Harry Potter and the Starship Enterprise
by dstrekharrylover
Summary: A Harry Potter/Original Star Trek crossover. Christine Chapel rejoins the wizarding world after 16 years. She is Harry's godmother, Lily Potter's best friend and Dumbledore's granddaughter. HP universe set in 23rd century.
1. Christine's Return

**Harry Potter & The Starship ****Enterprise**

**By dstrekharrylover &Amy Tymchuk **

**(Harry Potter/Original Star Trek crossover)**

Christine Chapel looked at her grandfather with great concern. The man wore what one would think was a Vulcan-style robe. He had white hair and a long beard; he also wore half-moon glasses. He was not the type of person one expected to see at Starfleet Head-quarters, which was why she was worried.

"Grandfather, what are you doing here?"

"Chrissy, you look lovely as always," he said as he walked into her office. He looked around the room. It was a little too clean for his liking, but she was a doctor. He looked at her and smiled. "I have seen our Healers; they say they can do nothing for me. I was hoping that you might tell me something different." He paused. "Christine, this is a very bad time for all mankind."

"I know."

Her grandfather looked almost surprised. "I still read the papers," she informed him.

"Well, come with me. We'll have a look."

Five minutes later it was sinking in; Albus Dumbledore would be dead by this time next year. "I don't think that my death this way will do any good."

"He's really back, then?" She really didn't want to know the answer, but still had to ask.

"I'm afraid so." He walked around her office. He had not seen her in almost sixteen years because he had hurt her a great deal. He had not made the choice to hurt her; it was a terrible by-product of a choice that was for someone else's well-being—or so he had believed at the time. "I never wanted to upset you, but I had no choice in the matter."

"I understand now." She had forgiven him a long time ago; however, by then she was so entangled in the new life which she had made for herself, and so far away, she could not just simply return to the wizarding world at that time. "Perhaps now is the time for me to come back."

Dumbledore thought for a long moment, weighing all the possibilities, then replied, "No. I believe it would serve us better if you waited until after my passing." He moved closer to her and then touched her cheek. "I will keep in touch, don't worry. I have to find a way to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Good day, my pet."

Over the next couple of months Christine spoke with her grandfather quite often; they made plans as to what would happen once he was gone. Because of this, she knew things no one else knew. At Christmas time, Dumbledore had Christine meet him and a very good long-time friend of his. They would meet at this friend's place; she was shocked to see that it was the Vulcan Ambassador's private home on Earth.

_So much contrast,_ she thought as she walked up to the home, then rang the bell and waited only a second before being led to a sitting room. She took in the décor; all stone dark in colour. Dimly lit, and very few luxuries. _Maybe not so different after all._ As the door to the room was opened, she saw her grandfather, and as the Vulcan turned, she saw it was Sarek. She smiled warmly.

"Ambassador Sarek, it's good to see you again."

"Miss Chapel, you look well."

"Well, I did not think the two of you knew each other." Dumbledore paused. "But at least I don't have to make introductions. Christine, Sarek, you both know much of what is happening. Sarek, our spy will give you the information and you will get it to Christine, who will in turn g ive the information to the Order. Now that you have met, perhaps you two should work out a code so you know you are really one another."

"Logic tells me there is a better—safer—way. Your spy gives me the information, and I pass it to someone—a past colleague of Miss Chapel. It would seem quite normal for you to speak with her former shipmates. They in turn pass you the information."

"This person would have to be quite trustworthy, Sarek," Dumbledore said.

"I think Miss Chapel would agree that my son Spock is quite trustworthy. Would you not?"

_Sure, if he can keep from running from the room before he tells the messages,_ she thought to herself. "Yes, I would agree."

They worked out as many of the details as possible but as she was leaving, her grandfather called after her. "Christine, there should be some kind of password for Spock," Dumbledore stated.

She thought for a long moment; this should be something that only Spock would know. All she could think of were moments she'd rather forget. Finally she said, "Plomeek soup."

Sarek raised an eyebrow. "Plomeek soup?"

"Spock will understand, and I'll be sure it's him."

Christine sat on her balcony enjoying her breakfast on a beautiful early summer morning when she heard a faint sound in her living room. It was a noise she had not heard in a long time. She rose and walked back into her penthouse and visually scanned her living room, only to have her eyes stop at the fireplace. There in the flames was a face she had not seen in many years. Through the flames one could see the form of the face of an older woman, but none of the natural colouring. It was, in fact, kind of creepy. Professor Minerva McGonagall, now Headmistress of Hogwarts—and her grandmother.

"Professor McGonagall," she said as she rushed to the mantel and fell to her knees, knowing her grandmother preferred the formal title. Only in very private situations did Christine dare to call her anything else, such as "Grandmother."

"Dr. Chapel, Christine— Your— Albus has been killed. I'm sorry." Christine could see the tears in McGonagall's eyes. Albus and Minerva had been married for as long as Christine could remember and had had at least one daughter, her mother, who had been killed by Death Eaters when Christine was a teenager, along with her father, a Muggle of Canadian descent.

"How?"

"Snape killed him."

Christine smiled inwardly, knowing her grandfather's death would not be in vain, just as she knew that he had in fact planned for Snape to kill him on his orders to make Voldemort think he was still loyal to him, while all the time he was working for the Light side.

"I shall return to our world. When is the funeral?"

"In three days' time. Will you be here by then?"

"Of course. Will _he_ be there?"

"I would not send him back one second before I have to."

"Good. I need to see him. I will arrive by the morning of the funeral."

"Good; you have been gone for far too long. I have many things to discuss with you." As the face disappeared from her fireplace, Christine turned to her com-unit. She waited until she saw Sarek's face.

"It is time."

"Did he go as he wished?"

As the older Vulcan spoke, she found herself fighting back tears. "I believe so."

"He would not want you mourning him, only to remember him. And to make him proud, that which you have already done." Sarek paused, giving her time to regain control of herself. "Where will you be?"

"The owl will find me."

She packed what she believed she would need. If she needed more, she could always return. Christine then called her commanding officer, saying there was a family crisis she had to deal with, and received an undetermined length of leave, then walked to the centre of her room, grabbed her trunk and with a faint pop, she vanished.

Once the funeral came to an end, she watched three young figures, clearly very close to each other, as they moved back to the castle. The castle was Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, of which Dumbledore had been headmaster for many years. Christine wondered why she'd returned; there were so many things she'd rather forget or leave in the past. Then she heard a voice she hadn't heard in almost sixteen years, at the last funeral she had attended in this world.

"Christine, is that really you?"

She turned to see an old friend, looking far older than his years. The years should have been kinder to him, but then, his was a hard life, having been a werewolf since he was a child. "Remus." She smiled warmly. "It is I. It's been far too long. Moony, you look like something the cat dragged in."

"And you look like an angel." In the wizarding world, everyone had codes to prove they were themselves. The two hugged. "I missed you."

"And I you." She wiped a tear that had escaped her.

"Minerva asked me to take care of you until she finished with the school governors." He smiled. "This is," He walked her over to a younger woman with pink hair. "Tonks. Tonks, this is Christine Chapel. She is— was— Minerva and Dumbledore's granddaughter."

"I'm so sorry," Tonks replied.

"We don't have much time; would you like to meet him?"

Christine only nodded. Within minutes they were in the castle and up at the Gryffindor common room. As they entered, they saw one boy with raven-black hair sitting by the fire with his back to them. Remus spoke first. "Harry, there's someone I would like you to meet."

The young man looked up. "I'm really not up to meeting anyone." Harry clearly had some issues, Christine could see that, and couldn't blame him for feeling as he did. Her grandfather had explained the affection he had for the boy and vice versa; Harry must be hurting terribly right now but was characteristically stoic, almost Vulcanly so, reminding her a lot of Spock.

"Dumbledore would want you to meet this lady."

Harry slowly got up and walked towards them. "Hello. Now you can say you met 'The Boy Who Lived'. Good day." He turned to walk away.

Tears filled Christine's eyes; Harry had so much pain. "No. Now I can say I've met the young man who is my godson." She waited for a reply.

Harry stopped dead, then turned around. "What did you say?"

"Harry, I am Christine Chapel, your godmother. Your mother Lily was my best friend."

Harry looked shocked for a minute. "Really? So where have you been for the past sixteen years?" He was very aggrieved.

"The day your mum and dad died, I was in Canada visiting my father. By the time I heard about what happened, you were already with your aunt." Remus and Tonks moved to the other end of the room. "I tried to get you, but could not persuade my grandfather." It was clear Harry did not know whom she was talking about.

"And what about the rest of the time?" he asked pointedly.

"Harry, I too lost my whole world that day. I lost my best friend, my godson, and my fiancé. He betrayed us all; he was their Secret-Keeper."

"You wanted to marry Wormtail?" he stated as if that made her guilty.

"Wormtail? No, Harry, Sirius Black. He betrayed us all. He was a Death Eater."

"Don't ever speak of him like that!" Harry yelled.

"Sirius didn't betray anyone; it was Peter who was working with them." Remus was clearly listening.

Christine was clearly shocked. "Sirius was innocent." She sat down in the overstuffed chair. "I never knew. Where is he?"

"He died last year," Harry said. There were tears in her eyes instantly; at that moment, he realised he liked this woman.

She again fought back tears. "Where were you?" Harry needed to know.

"After your mum and dad's funeral, I left the wizarding world. I tried to forget and move on. I made myself a life—or at least tried to."

"Who was your grandfather?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore. You see, Harry, I felt I lost my whole life that day." Just then Harry's friends Ron and Hermione could be heard arguing as they came down the stairs.

"You would lose your head in that mess if it wasn't attached. I don't know how you can live like that," the girl said, then fell quiet as they took in the scene in the common room.

"Uh, Remus, Harry, what's going on? Who's that?"

"A member of the Order," Remus said. The other two teenagers looked skeptical but accepted the explanation for the moment.

"Harry, we have to go or we'll miss the train," Hermione said.

Haryr looked at Remus and then Christine. "Go, Harry. I'll see you in a couple of days, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be at—"

"I know." With that, Harry and his friends left. Christine had seen closeness like that only twice before in her life. Her former Captain, Spock and Dr. McCoy—then James, Remus and Sirius.

But it was still remarkable. As the door closed, she turned to Remus. "He really has some anger issues."

"He's been through a lot."

"Sirius did not betray them?" Remus and Tonks shook their heads. "I never knew." Or more accurately, she'd not listened when Sirius had tried to tell her—and now she'd never have the chance to apologise and tell him how sorry she was for doubting him so.

"I tried to find you when we found out. You were already off-planet. Really, Christine, Starfleet?"

"It's a long story." She told them how she had gone to university and became involved with a professor, then got engaged to him only to lose him when he went on a deep space mission … then of how she joined the Fleet to try to find him.


	2. Christine and Harry

A couple of hours later she stood in McGonagall's office hearing the account of how her grandfather was killed. Of course, it brought tears to her eyes, but none of these people had known that Dumbledore was dying. "What did the Board of Governors decide about the school?" someone had asked. The events which led to Dumbledore's death—a battle in which Death Eaters had been let into the school by a Slytherin student, one Draco Malfoy, who was now believed to be a Death Eater, had taken place in the school. He had originally been ordered to kill Dumbledore, but had been unable to do so, so it had fallen to Snape. Many, if not all, parents were scared. The Death Eaters were the most devoted followers of the most evil wizard alive (most people were scared to even say his name), Voldemort.

"We must find a couple of new teachers and then see how many parents are willing to send their children back here in the fall." Professor Slughorn, a fat old man and the latest DADA and Potions teacher, not to mention the former head of Slytherin House, spoke up. "I have decided to stay on for another year."

McGonagall smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Horace; that just leaves Transfiguration, as I will be taking over as headmistress, and most needed, Defence Against the Dark Arts." She turned toward Remus and smiled. "The governors decided at this time that they would like you to return to Hogwarts. We will, if you agree, make a point of high-lighting the years you attended Hogwarts and taught there with no problems."

Remus looked shocked but pleased to be asked back. "Of course, if Professor Slughorn will agree to brew the wolfsbane potion for myself."

Slughorn nodded.

"Well, that's set." She then looked at Christine. "I assume you will be working with the Order?"

"Yes."

"Would you be interested in teaching Transfiguration?"

Christine was shocked. "I've not touched my wand in …" She thought for a moment. " … almost sixteen years."

"Christine, it's something you never really forget. You'll have all summer to brush up; besides, you were one of my best students."

Christine knew she would not be returning to her Muggle life for quite a long time. This wasn't something that could be done in a week. "Sure. I can do it."

A few days later she stood outside of Harry's home for the past sixteen years. It was the picture-perfect home, exactly like all the others on this block. She walked up to the two-storey home and rang the bell. When the door opened Christine was greeted with a face she hadn't seen in twenty years. Harry's Aunt Petunia, the woman who hated anything from the wizarding world, which probably included Harry, Christine thought.

"Petunia, hello. It's been a long time."

Petunia took a moment to realise who Christine was. "Christine? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Yes, it's me, and I'm here to see my godson."

"He and his friends should be back soon." She looked Christine up and down, deciding that she looked normal enough. "Would you like to come in and wait?"

"Please." As she entered the house, Christine saw far too many pictures of whom must have been Harry's cousin. Harry's upbringing must have been exactly as she feared.

"He brought some of your kind home without even asking."

"Well, in a few days Harry and all of us will be out of your lives forever."

A look of realisation, then sadness, came across Petunia's face. "Only a few days until he leaves."

"Yes." Christine paused. "Does that, maybe, bother you?"

"He is all I have left of my family. I mean, I have my husband and son, but—"

"Harry's your only connection to your roots." The other woman nodded. "Then maybe you should have treated him better," Christine returned with a touch of bitterness and anger.

Christine had heard how Harry had been treated and was definitely not pleased. He was only given a real bedroom at the age of eleven; before that he slept in a cupboard under the stairs.

Someone had come in the front door; they heard voices. "Harry, you have another guest," Petunia called. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the living room.

"Hello, Harry," Christine warmly smiled.

"Hello, Christine." He returned the smile.

"Mrs. Dursley, can I give you a hand with supper? Ron, you said you had to write your mother."

"No, I don't," he started.

"Yes, you did." Hermione's voice said more 'get upstairs' than what the words actually said. Ron caught on at this point and the three, Ron, Hermione and Petunia left the room.

"Harry, there's a lot I want to know about you."

Harry flopped down in the chair across from Christine while he had the chance. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

He looked very stressed at this.

"Your favourite colour, your first word, your most hated food, all the little things that make you, you." Now he seemed pleased, which eased Christine's mind considerably. "What is … most people want to know about … well, how you're 'The Boy Who Lived.' I could care less. No, that's wrong. I wish you weren't; I wish you were the boy who grew up in a perfectly normal family, whose biggest worry was what's for supper." With every moment that passed, he seemed to become more comfortable with her.

"Can I ask you some questions?" he asked then.

"Of course. I'm an open book," Christine assured him.

"If Professor Dumbledore is— was— your grandfather, why do you have an American accent?"

"My father was Canadian, and I was raised in Canada."

"How did you and my mum meet?"

"We met on the train to Hogwarts, first year. I remember being scared as I boarded the train but soon found Lily, who was even more scared, being from a Muggle family. We became fast friends and stayed that way until she was killed."

"Hagrid gave me some pictures of Mum and Dad, but you aren't in any of them. Why?"

"I was almost always the one taking the photos, but I do have this one." She reached into her bag and pulled out a photo, looked at it for a second, then handed it to Harry. It showed Lily, James (Harry's father), baby Harry, Sirius and herself. "It was taken the day you were born."

Harry looked hard at it for a minute, then looked back at her. "If you thought Sirius was guilty, why did you keep this photo?"

"Because it's the only one of you all that I had that doesn't move." In wizard pictures, the people moved. "I have been living as a Muggle for most of your life."

Christine was pleased that Harry seemed to accept her answer. At almost seventeen years of age, Harry seemed very wise at times, but in other ways was very innocent. "You say you were living as a Muggle. Did you find it hard?"

"Not really. My father was a Muggle, so I was pretty used to it."

"Oh – well— what had – do you do in the Muggle world?"

Christine smiled. "I'm a doctor in Starfleet."

Harry's eyes grew wide, like a young child at Christmas. "I thought about going into Starfleet before I found out about being a wizard."

Harry and Christine talked for a couple of hours. She found out many things about him and the things he had been through. She also heard the details of when they would return to Ron's family home as Ron's oldest brother was due to be married in a couple of weeks. She also got the feeling that Harry did not plan on returning to Hogwarts in the fall, which concerned her greatly.

However, she would wait until he told her himself. She did plan on letting Remus know as soon as possible; Harry did have a reasonably good relationship with him. She finally decided to stay at Hogwarts, since there was little point in finding somewhere else or traveling back and forth from San Francisco.


	3. Spock the Informer

Three days later she received an owl from Spock. She was to meet him; she sent the owl back with a time and place, choosing to return to her place as she needed more of her personal things anyway. She arrived back at her place, checked her mail, watered a few plants and made some long-term arrangements so she could be gone for at least a year.

She was thankful for her time on the _Enterprise_after becoming a doctor because she and Spock were a little more at ease with each other. As she heard the door chime, she smoothed her clothing and said, "Enter."

The door opened and in walked Spock.

"Thank you for coming."

"Dr. Chapel, could you make me some of that plomeek soup?" He paused, then continued, "I hope that Dr. McCoy is enjoying his little joke, but I do not understand how he got yourself and my father to play a role in this." Spock stood at the door to the living room.

"Please, Mr. Spock, come in and have a seat. I shall try to explain everything." She pointed to the nearby armchair and smiled. Spock rose an eyebrow and then did as asked. "This is not a joke or a game, but instead, something very important. What exactly did your father tell you?"

"He said that he and your grandfather had a relationship that went back to before he knew my mother, and that he needed me to pass information to you. And that I was to use an owl to get in contact with you."

This was going to take longer than she had hoped. "Spock, this is going to take a while. Would you care for something to drink?"

"Water would be most welcome, please."

She pulled out a thin twig, flicked it and said, "_Accio_ water." She paused, and a couple of seconds later, two glasses of water came floating into the room and came to rest gently on the coffee table. Spock's eyebrow rose. "Did your mother ever tell you the tale of King Arthur as a child?"

"Yes, and the knights of the Round Table."

"And Merlin the wizard."

He nodded.

"What would you say if I told you it's all true?"

"I would say that it was all a fairy tale."

"No, Spock," she returned calmly. "All true, and that does not even scratch the surface." Spock looked at her with great doubt. "You would not be the first to think that way. Spock, what I'm about to tell you, you can never tell another soul." He only nodded again. "Since before records of any kind were kept, there have been two Human 'worlds', if you will, on Earth.

"The one that the Federation and Starfleet are a part of, and another, secret wizarding world where people do magic of all kinds. We have spells, potions, divination, and charms such as the one I used to bring the water to us. We even fly on brooms." She took a sip of her water. "You look like you don't believe me."

"That is because I do not."

She smiled. "Fine, let's try it this way. You tell me something you would like to see me do. You name it."

"Turn back time."

"Can't." Technically that wasn't true; there _was_ a way, via Time-Turner, but time travel was strictly regulated and all but illegal except under certain controlled conditions.

"Turn me into a dog." He _would_ say a dog.

"Sure; any preference as to breed?" He rose an eyebrow again, which led her to believe there was none. She drew her wand again, and a second later there sat a white Maltese dog. He checked out his legs and tail. Once he was still again, she turned him back.

"Fascinating." He paused. "How many more of you are there?"

"More than you can ever dream."

He took a sip of water. "I require more information. Like—"

"Spock, there are laws; I can't tell you anything more. In fact I've already shown you too much. Everything you know from here on in puts you in jeopardy." She licked her lips, then continued. "I—we— your father understood a lot because of his friendship with gra— Dumbledore. Doing this for us is very dangerous. You have no idea of the things they could do to you."

"Dr. Chapel, if I am to help you, I must have a complete understanding of what I am getting myself into."

"You're right. But I just— God, I've never had to explain this to anyone before." She stood up, paced the room, then returned to her spot, but remained standing, then reached down and took her glass. After a long silence, she continued. "My world, the wizarding world, is at war. It's an age-old problem, of different opinions. You see, there are some who believe that anyone who is not pureblood— That's not the place to start— Wizards have lived here since time began. We do not believe we are aliens because there are children who are born to Muggles with …"

"Muggles?"

"Non-magical people. Anyway, there are those who believe that anyone who isn't pureblood do not have the same rights as pureblood and are inferior to all others. But below even them are Muggles. Anyhow, there is a group of people who believe this who have joined together and who are being led by what some would call a deranged maniac who is also a very powerful wizard. We don't even know what they will do if they win this war. Aside from taking over the world, both wizard and Muggle, then I don't know, maybe the universe."

"Do you really think the Federation would allow that?"

She began to laugh. "Spock, I just turned you into a dog. What could you have done to stop me if you wanted to? We have powers you can't begin to understand. And for the most part, there have been few problems. Most of us respect Muggles." She stopped, then sat down again.

Spock thought for a moment. "There is no logic in what you say."

"Someone once said, 'Whoever said Humans were logical?' Let me put it in terms that are a little closer to home for you. And I don't mean to offend. Look at yourself. I'm sure there are those on both Earth and Vulcan who fe— think that someone who is half Vulcan is wrong and that it makes you less worthy. Worthy of what, I don't know, but it's the same with these wizards. The difference is these wizards are evil and led by a lunatic." She rose again. "To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, remember Plutonius. Well, that little trick of theirs, I know of a spell that does the same thing, probably better."

Spock's eyebrows both rose as he walked over to the fireplace, then asked, "Then why did you not use this spell to save us?"

"Because we have very strict laws and that is what we call an 'unforgivable' curse. Perform that one and you end up spending the rest of your life in Azkaban – wizard jail. I visited someone there once and don't really want to go back." She took another sip of water. "And I really didn't think you guys would believe me. Don't really like the idea of a room with rubber walls, either."

"Unforgivable?"

"Yes, there are three unforgivable curses. That one, the Imperius, and Cruciatus, the torture curse, and _Avada Kedavra_, the killing curse. A couple of my close friends died because of that one."

"Because of this—"

"Voldemort. Most people don't like to even say the name."

"So this is personal for you?" Spock asked, as if he were seeing more to her than the nurse who had been in love with him and that he had avoided in the past.

"It's personal to everyone, but yes, it is. You see, for many years he and his groupies, the Death Eaters, held my world in fear—then one night he attacked a family, killing both parents and leaving only a baby just over a year old. He disappeared for fourteen years, then two years back, he returned. He has already caused several—what Muggles believe are twists of fate. But they are not. We modify memories and the happening gets blamed on everything from the weather to poor construction." She lifted her glass only to find it was empty. Christine rose again, pacing this time.

"How many Muggles know about you wizards?"

"Very few. Mostly families of children who are wizards. However, there's a few government officials who know."

"And none of them have ever informed the rest of the world?"

"Spock, if you were to go and tell Kirk and Dr. McCoy what I just told you, what would their reaction be? Even with you being you? They would think you went off the deep end."

Spock considered what she said for a long moment, then spoke. "Why must I contact you with an owl?"

"Because I have returned to the wizarding world for now, and that's our mail system. We don't have computers or communicators; in fact, they don't even work in most places in our world. Can I assume that you are willing to help us?"

"Would we, myself and yourself as Starfleet officers, not be in violation of the Prime Directive?"

"No. You see, we have chosen to live like pre-technology people."

"Yes, I will help."

She gave him a warm smile. "Good. I'm glad. And of course, thankful, but you do realise that this could be very dangerous for you?"

"Yes, I understand."


	4. New Developments

Days later, Christine stood in the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It was the first meeting since Dumbledore's death. She heard about everything that had happened over the past few years. Harry, her godson, had faced Voldemort four times, five if you counted the night his parents were killed, by the age of sixteen.

There were, of course, many old members who were still there but there were also many new ones, who included Ron's whole family (or at least all the family members who were of age) who had, according to Remus, taken Harry as one of their own. It made Christine happy that there was someone who cared greatly about Harry and clearly thought of him as family.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, I would like to call this meeting to order." McGonagall took charge. Everyone grew quiet. "To start this," – she indicated Christine— "This is Christine Chapel. She is Albus's and my granddaughter and will be rejoining us as a member. Now, we clearly don't have a spy among the Death Eaters, so …"

"Yes, we do." Christine spoke. All eyes fell on her. "Grandfather and I had been speaking on this for the last year. He was thinking ahead, you see. He thought that something like this might happen and well, I don't know the identity of this spy, although arrangements have been made. When there is information we need to know, I will receive word from a contact. I will not know who the spy is, and this way there is little chance of him being found out by the Death Eaters."

"And how do we know this informant is not working for them?" Moony asked, an older and former dark wizard catcher who suspected everyone, even his own shadow.

"My contact is a Muggle. Actually, he's a Vulcan." She paused. "Whom I served with in Starfleet."

A couple of nights later, late one night, Christine sat with Harry and Remus in the Weasley living room. They were talking about Lily, James and Sirius, sharing memories and stories. Harry clearly enjoyed hearing about his godfather, and of course his parents too. Over the years he had heard much about his father, but the information about his mother was quite limited. So hearing what Christine had to say about her was a real treat for him. And while he would never admit it, he most loved hearing about how his mum would coo over him and treat him when she thought no one was watching. He never recieved any kind of love as a child from this aunt's family. So for a young man of seventeen, it was wonderful to hear about the love he had once experienced.

As the topic shifted more to Sirius, Harry and the others laughed more. Christine's need to know got the better of her. "How did he die?"

Remus and Harry looked at each other. Remus was unsure if Harry was up to telling the story, but Harry spoke up. "We were fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry and Sirius and Bellatrix were dueling; Sirius fell through a magical veil."

Remus and Harry could see something on Christine's face. "His own cousin." She shook her head. "I always hated her; she was a real bitch." She paused. "In the Department of Mysteries?"

Harry nodded.

"Before Christine left us, she worked there," Remus explained to Harry. At that moment an owl flew into the room and dropped a letter on Christine's lap. After reading it, she jumped up. "It's from Spock; I have to go."

"The information?" Remus asked.

Christine nodded. "I'll be back soon. Remus, maybe you should call the Order to meet in the morning."

"I'll do that, but do you really think it's that urgent?"

"Spock said so, and he has a tendency to underestimate things." With that, she grabbed her wand. "Harry, to bed. Bill's wedding is only a few days away and there will be lots for you to help with," and she disappeared.

"I think she's taking her title as my godmother to heart," Harry said.

"It amazes me that she does not have kids of her own by now. She always wanted to be a mum. Sirius believed at the time she was more excited than your parents about your arrival."

As she waited for Spock, she pulled out the picture she had showed Harry and fingered Sirius's image; she remembered the last time she saw him. She had gone to Askaban the evening before Lily and James's funeral because Dumbledore was allowed to speak to him.

_The room was small, grey and cold. As he entered the room he looked like hell, but as he looked up at her, there was relief on his face. _

"_Christine, thank God you're here." He rushed towards her._

_She was leaning against the far wall with her arms crossed. She had read the report of what happened, how Sirius had killed (Peter) Wormtail and twelve innocent Muggles in the street. All that was left of Wormtail was a finger. As he came closer, he reached out to touch her. "Don't touch me." Tears were burning her eyes. "How long have you been working against us?" _

"_It wasn't me; it was Wormtail."_

_"Really, Sirius, I want to believe you, but look at the fact your own family are purebloods who clearly sided with Voldemort; you were Lily and James's Secret-Keeper. Only you could have told Voldemort where they were."_

_He knew her well enough to know she was really angry. "James changed his mind at the last minute; it was Peter."_

"_**BULLSHIT**__. You killed him. Just like you killed them."_

"_Voldemort killed them."_

"_You betrayed them. You may as well have fired the curse yourself."_

"_**PETER WAS THEIR SECRET KEEPER!" **_

"_Come off it. James believed you to be his closest friend. Peter was just the tag-along. James never would have left Lily and Harry's safety to him. It coud have only been you or Remus. I don't believe it; Remus doesn't either."_

"_Then why did I give Harry to Hagrid?"_

"_Because with your lord gone, it could make this story more believable. You thought you might still jump ship and we would just believe you. Grandfather put Harry in the care of Lily's sister. What did he offer you? You had it all; people loved you. You - We had a good life ahead of us. What could have been so appealing to make you gave it all up?"_

"_I didn't, Christine; I would never have betrayed them. You have to know that."_

"_All I know is Lily and James are gone. Betrayed by his best friend and that another of their friends has also been killed by you; witnessed by many. Or are you now going to tell me that all those witnesses were working for the Dark Side? I dont even know why I came here. You're just as dead to me as them." She pushed past him and called for a guard. _

"_Then I have nothing," he said sadly. His eyes looked very sad as well._

"_No, you have your Death Eater friends; they should be joining you very soon, I would think." _

"Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry! How could I have not believed you? I of all people should have had more faith in you." At that moment, the door chimed. "Enter."

Once the door opened, Spock walked in; as he was about to give the code statement, he realised she was crying. "Miss Chapel, your face is wet."

She touched her face as if to confirm what he said. "Oh, I guess it is." She wiped her tears away. "Your owl said it was urgent. You have some information."

"Are you sure you are all right?"

"I will be. I just – I have to face my own personal ghosts. I made my bed; now I have to lie in it. Please give me the information."

"I -- We don't quite understand it. 'The Hogwarts Express will be attacked.' I hope you understand exactly what that means."

"The Hogwarts Express. Those monsters," she said in disbelief.

"What is the Hogwarts Express?"

"The train we use to get children to Hogwarts - the best school in the wizarding world."

"There is little logic in attacking children."

"Yes and no. There is the fear it will cause, and Harry will be on it."

Spock's eyebrow rose. "Who is this Harry?"

"I'm sorry, Spock; Harry is my godson. He is also the one believed to be the one to defeat the Dark Lord."

Spock, being the intelligent Vulcan he was, put two and two together. "He was the son of your friends that were murdered by this Voldemort."

"Yes, he is."

" Is he why you were crying?"

"No." Her own eyebrow rose. "Spock, would it be possible to recreate the events of Halka? I mean the window into the other dimension."

Spock was clearly confused. "I could not say. Why?"

"I have reason to believe someone who should not be there is."

"In the same one that Admiral Kirk and the others were in?"

"I don't know, but it's possible."

"In order to tell you if it was possible, I would need to know the exact relationship of that universe to ours."

"If it is possible, would you help me bring this person back to us?"

"I can't see why not. But why would they be there?"

She explained how Sirius had fell through the veil that was a link to another dimension. She also had to explain how she worked in the Department of Mysteries.

"Christine, I believe that there is a lot more to you than I ever imagined." The way Spock said this, he meant it as a compliment.

She smiled and replied, "You have not even scratched the surface." She did not have to worry about getting back right away, as the Hogwarts Express would not be departing for a few more weeks. Spock told her the information he would need and then left as he had plans to meet with Jim for dinner.

Christine returned to the Weasley home around 7 a.m. The house was just as busy as one would expect with twelve wizards there--the Weasleys had seven children, six boys and one girl, plus Harry, Hermione, Remus, and depending on the moment, Fleur, Bill's bride-to-be. Molly and Arthur had welcomed Christine with open arms, saying anyone who truly cared about Harry was family in their mind. As she entered the house she found Molly making breakfast and giving out instructions as to what needed to be done. Anyone who was of age (17) would be at the Order meeting. "Christine, you're back," Molly smiled. "Well, what is the news?"

Christine looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, then shook her head. "Not here."

"Christine, I want to come to the meeting," Harry said.

"Harry, you're not yet of age, even though I know you're the one who has faced him five times. I don't want you to have to grow up any more or faster than all of this has already made you."

"I'll be seventeen in two weeks."

"I know, but Harry, come outside with me, please." Once outside, Christine turned to face him. "Harry, I know what you want to do once you turn seventeen, but please listen to me. You may have faced him may times, but Harry, you're still young and need to finsh your schooling."

Harry opened his mouth to argue.

"Harry, your mother and father made me promise that I would make sure you finshed school, no matter what. It was also important to Grandfather. I know about the Horcruxes and your plans, but let's all work together here. Let the Order help find and destroy them all. Harry, you were alone for so long. You have people who care about you now, and want to help you. Let us. You must finish school. We know that there is only so much we can do and the rest is up to you, but what is the point to wearing yourself down before it's time? Look, you have two weeks left of the protection your mother gave you. Please be as young and free as you can be until then. And after the meeting today, I have some Polyjuice Potion I intend to use. I need to go down to Diagon Alley and would like it if you would join me."

Harry did not respond.

"Harry, please. I don't expect you to agree with me; just really think about what I said."

Harry had really planned on going and looking for the Horcruxes as soon as his birthday passed.

"Harry, think about Ron, Ginny and Hermione; they're going to do whatever you do and they need to finish school as much as you, if not more."

"I'll think about it. But will you at least tell me about the meeting after?"

"You will know all about it sooner than you think."


	5. Secrets Learned, Matchmaking Done

Christine had been invited to the wedding of Bill, the eldest Weasley brother, and his intended, one Fleur Delacour, a former student at Beauxbatons, the French school of magic—and though she had met and got along well with them both, the one that really struck her where she lived was the lovely young red-headed girl, Bill's almost-sixteen-year-old sister Ginevra, otherwise known as "Ginny".

Harry had told her a lot about himself, including his interactions with the majority of the Weasley family, but not about this. But then, he didn't need to—the way he looked at Ginny, acted around her, told Christine that he was very much in love with her. All the same, he tended to avoid her, not being alone with her if he could help it … and the pain that Ginny couldn't help but show when he did this showed that she loved him every bit as much.

Why was he keeping her at arm's length? Was he afraid of how her brothers might react if they knew of his feelings for her? Was it her parents? Ron himself? Did Harry think his friend might be upset if he found out about Harry's feelings for her? It was going to take longer than overnight for her to make up for sixteen years of separation, but Christine had made a good start with Harry and vowed to do everything she could to find out the details of this situation and help put things right—if she could.

When had the relationship began? How long had it lasted—or was it still going on? Most importantly, why was Harry fighting his feelings? Did the prophecy she kept hearing about but that Harry would not elaborate on have something to do with it? Was what she sensed through her Legilimency true, that he didn't plan to return to school in the fall, but instead go out and look up Voldemort and company, including Snape, himself? Had Ginny asked to go with him and he refused her?

It was frankly uncanny how much Ginny resembled Lily; they could almost have been sisters. The only difference between them was in the colour of their eyes—Lily's had been a bright, sparkling green like her son's; Ginny's were a warm, soft brown. Christine vowed to find out the details—whatever it took—if the inexplicable behaviour of the young pair went on much longer, especially without some explanation.

A talk with Harry and his friends, perhaps, or even with Ginny herself—if not both. Sirius had also once told her that the Potter males had a penchant for redheads; could that have something to do with the way Harry was acting toward Ginny? Probably at least part of the reason.

But surely he knew he could not hope to win against Voldemort alone; he needed all the help he could get. It was for sure that Voldemort wasn't going to show up alone, so it would be totally foolhardy for Harry to do so. Even at that, he definitely had his share of his parents' stubbornness, that was for sure—stubbornness which bordered on pigheadedness. He likely intended to try, if nothing else, however foolish the idea was. That was surely James coming out in his son, for Sirius had once told her that the risk was what would make a given adventure exciting for him.

Speaking of Sirius—not to mention Dumbledore—Christine had definitely picked up on Harry's obvious affection for both and hoped, if nothing else, to be able to ease his pain at losing them … if only a little. Which reminded her, of all people, she should have known better than to automatically think the worst of Sirius and assume that he had betrayed James and Lily, especially when she knew as well as anyone how close they and Remus had been to one another.

Her attitude was more in keeping with an immature mind, not an adult mind. Of course, at the time, Christine hadn't been half as mature as she was now, so maybe that had something to do with it. Even Harry had eventually had a change of heart upon learning the truth. In fact, she could still recall the pain in Sirius's eyes, in his entire demeanour, when she had broken off their engagement during the funeral for James and Lily, then left the wizarding world behind for what would turn out to be sixteen years. For the moment, however, the questions in her mind that demanded answers centred around Ginny and Harry's obviously very deep feelings for her. The main one: Why hadn't Harry told her he was in love?

As it turned out, she had inadvertently overheard him and his friends discussing their plans to leave and hunt down Voldemort and company—not to mention something called "Horcruxes". She had frankly never heard of such things; all she could assume was that they had something to do with the Dark Arts, which Voldemort was a master of.

She finally learned that Horcruxes were magical objects with a lengthy history, and that Voldemort had started out with seven of them, hiding a piece of his soul in each one. But to do so, he had to kill at least one person to be able to divide up his soul into several parts. At the moment, however, there were just four left; Harry had told her about destroying at least two of them, even though he had not mentioned the word "Horcrux" at any time in his explanation.

Fortunately she got at least part of the answer as to why Harry was acting as he was around Ginny as she continued listening. "Mate, you said yourself that love would be your ultimate weapon against Voldemort. Taking Ginny would double that love and make it all the easier for us to win against him. Remember what the prophecy said: 'It is a power that the Dark Lord knows not.' We're going to need all the help we can get, you know."

"No!" Harry had shot back. "I won't risk her life! It's bad enough you two are going without her risking her life as well! And may I remind you that I have already memorised that bloody prophecy, word for word, so the last thing either of you need to do is remind me of any part of it! Besides, we're already taking most of the Order and the D.A. with us! What more do you want? I'm not about to risk Ginny if I don't have to, so don't even think of trying to convince me to take her!"

Even at that, Hermione didn't give up. "But you know just as well as we do that it's just as likely that Voldemort, the Death Eaters and dementors could track her down and capture her, then bring her to where we are and force us to watch as they do Merlin knows what to her!

"Also, may we remind you that the Dark Lord is a top Legilimens, so no matter how you fight your feelings for her, he's going to detect them and likely use them against you anyway – so what point is there to leaving her behind, much less breaking up with her? You know that your feelings for each other aren't going to automatically stop, so I would think it'd be only logical to have her along to help us out, if nothing else!"

"Drop it, 'Mione. _Now!_ Or I'll leave you behind too!" Harry's tone told everyone concerned that he meant business; Christine couldn't help but note that he had Lily's hair-trigger temper as well as her eyes.

"Not if I hex you into the middle of the next century first!" she threw back. "Or at the very least, put a permanent Sticking Charm on your bum so you can't leave the house!"

Christine couldn't help but smile at this; obviously Hermione could give as good as she got and then some. She even sounded like Spock with that logic bit, that was for sure!

At that point she heard them get up and head for the door, so she knew she had best make herself scarce. Maybe go find Ginny and talk to her now … at least she now knew that Ginny and Harry _had_been romantically involved but had broken up, supposedly to protect her. That was likely to be the reason why he was so steadfastly avoiding her … or attempting to do so, at any rate. If he allowed himself near her for any length of time, she would likely convince him to take her along with him—among other things—and he couldn't allow that.

But Hermione was definitely right about one thing, even if Harry was unwilling to admit it—feelings didn't automatically stop because of a breakup and a trained Legilimens, especially one like Voldemort, would surely detect them despite any efforts to conceal them—particularly feelings as strong as Harry's and Ginny's still were for one another.

Maybe he hadn't mentioned his romance with Ginny because he didn't think it counted due to the supposed breakup, but Christine knew that as long as deep romantic feelings still existed, there was always a chance for a reunion of the couple involved. As the old saying went, "Where there's life, there's hope." And she knew all too well that despite all the risky situations that she, Spock and company had gotten themselves into over the years, they usually managed to get out of them … but by working together, _not_ trying to do everything on their own!

All the same, it was best that she go find Ginny now and see if she couldn't get "the rest of the story," as it were, as to the romance between herself and Harry—when his feelings for her had begun to develop, when the romance had become official, their first kiss, things like that. Things that only a young man's steady girlfriend (or one-time steady girlfriend) would know.

Christine went upstairs to the room she'd been told was Ginny's and knocked softly.

"Who is it?" she called, sounding as if she'd been crying—and Christine could guess why.

"It's Christine. You know—Harry's godmother. Can I talk to you?"

"I suppose so," Ginny returned dully. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I'm told you were Harry's steady girlfriend."

" 'Were' being the operative term," Ginny agreed. "What did you want to know?"

"I'd like to discuss your relationship with him. That is, if it's not too painful for you, especially I heard you … broke up recently." Her voice was as gentle as she could make it.

"We don't _have_ a relationship any more, at least not a romantic one—but I can tell you about the one we _had_, if you like."

"I would like." Christine sat down next to the young girl on her bed. "First off, when did you first notice that Harry was developing feelings for you?"

"During my relationship with my last boyfriend before him. I'm told he was very jealous upon seeing me kiss my former boyfriend. My brother Ron, his best friend, told me and swore me to secrecy after Harry had confessed it to him later."

Once the conversation started, the questions started coming more and more rapidly, such as "What was your first date like?", "When did your romance become official?", "When was your first kiss?", "How did your family feel about your relationship?" These were just a few of the questions Christine asked Ginny, and she answered them all, even though there were times that her soft eyes filled with tears, especially when Christine asked when Ginny first fell in love with Harry and the story of their (supposed) breakup.

"He claims it's merely to protect me, just a temporary thing until he manages to take care of Voldemort … but the way he's been acting, it sure seems bloody final to me! Even at that, it could be done a lot faster if he'd just bloody well let me go with him and not be so godawful stubborn about the whole business!"

Christine laughed softly. "I assure you, dear, Harry comes by it naturally. His mother was every bit as stubborn. There were times, in fact, when I was sure that James—his father—was going to give up trying to get Lily to _date_ him, much less marry him."

"But she finally did," Ginny remarked.

"With Harry, you've just got to out-stubborn him, that's all. Mainly because I happen to know he _does_ still love you, despite his actions. I know a young man in love when I see one. I also know when one is in denial and trying to fight his feelings. This is basically what Harry's been doing. That's the main reason he's been doing his best to avoid you."

"You sound like you once had this problem yourself," Ginny observed.

"Big-time," Christine agreed. "For pity's sake, do you really think it was easy to convince _Sirius_to relax around me? Let me tell you, pulling teeth would have been easier!"

Ginny's eyes widened. "You were … involved with Sirius?"

"We were … engaged once," Christine quietly confessed. "About the time James and Lily got married. In fact, we were best man and maid of honour—and everyone there expected us to be the next to get married!"

"Why did you … break up?"

"I thought—at first and erroneously, mind you—that he'd been their Secret-Keeper and betrayed them to Voldemort, which ended up getting them killed and Harry orphaned. I wanted to take him and raise him myself, but my grandfather insisted that he belonged with blood kin."

Ginny thought of the abuse Harry had taken from the Dursleys and her lips twisted. "He'd have been better off with you, that's for sure. Oh, just out of curiosity—who was your grandfather?"

"Dumbledore. I was the daughter of his daughter, but my father was a Muggle."

"Are your mum and dad still alive?"

"No. They were killed by Death Eaters when I was a teenager. I left the wizard world to join Starfleet shortly after Lily and James were killed and just recently rejoined."

"Do you … really think that Harry and I will eventually … get back together?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Definitely. Can't say just when, of course, dear, but it _will_happen, I promise you. If Harry's anything like Lily, and he seems to be, it takes him a while to fall in love, but once it happens, it's for life. You've just got to hang in there."

Just then a knock came on the door; both females froze for a moment, listening. "Gin? You still awake?" Harry's voice. The ladies exchanged glances and knowing smiles. "It's Harry. I need to talk to you for a minute."

"I'm awake, Harry. Just give me a minute."

"All right. Let me know when you're ready."

The two females gave each other a reassuring hug. "Good luck, dear," Christine whispered to Ginny, then breezed past Harry. "Excuse me, Harry. Got to get ready for bed."

Harry looked—and sounded—surprised. "What were you doing with Ginny?"

"Just some girl talk," Christine returned ambiguously. "Good night."

"Good night." Harry looked after her, a frown crossing his lips. Why had she been talking with Ginny, and why didn't she seem at all surprised to see him at Ginny's door? Had she guessed that he loved Ginny despite his outward actions? She must have; that was the only answer that made sense. Just the same, "girl talk" could cover a lot of ground. He'd better watch his step.

"I'm ready, Harry."

"All right. I'm coming in."

But what he didn't know was that Christine was simply waiting around the corner for him to go inside the room, then tiptoe back to listen at the door.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I've been a stubborn git. I'm sorry. I never meant to take it out on you. _And_ I just realised something."

"Like what?"

"I can't leave you. You must come with us."

Ginny was stunned but happy, although she fought not to show it. "What made you change your mind?"

"Let's just say that I was convinced by a wisdom greater than my own and leave it at that. What matters is that we'll be together."

"When will we be leaving?"

"Shortly after Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Ginny smiled knowingly, daring to picture an eventual wedding of her own—to Harry. Even if she had to wait a while, he would definitely be worth the wait. She also wanted to ask if this meant that they were back together, but didn't think it would be a good idea just yet. What mattered was that Harry wanted her with him—and together, they would beat Voldemort and the forces of Darkness before they could take over not only the wizard world but the universe.

"Thank you for deciding to let me come."

"I'm still doing this against my better judgment, mind you—so thanks are a bit premature."

"We'll make it, luv. Besides you _did_say that we'll need all the help we can get."

"And we'll have it. Most of the Order and the D.A. are going with us." He was even considering asking Christine whether or not Starfleet would be willing to help them too, but hadn't done it yet. After all, Bill and Fleur's wedding was in just a few days, and they were leaving shortly after that, so he'd better do it soon.

"_Us_. What a lovely word." She moved to stroke his lips even as his arms slid around her. "I love you, Harry."

"I … never stopped loving you, Gin." In the next moment he bent his head to find her lips with his. As the kiss deepened, the door closed and locked. Christine moved away toward her designated room, unable to help feeling a twinge of envy for Ginny. If only she could have convinced _Spock_ that easily …


	6. Diagon Alley

As it turned out, the Polyjuice was supposed to be used for a disguise for Harry, but upon learning this, he suggested the Invisibility Cloak instead, since he had used it for many similar situations in the past, and told Christine so. In the end, she decided to simply have him use the cloak inherited from his father and given to him by Dumbledore a few years ago in order to protect his anonymity as she and Harry went to Diagon Alley so she could spoil him as she had never had the chance to do before.

Upon their Apparating there and walking toward the nearby collection of shops, she asked him the things he liked best. "I told you most of them already. Anything relating to those things I'm sure I'd like … although you don't have to get me anything."

"Humour me, Harry. I know you're not the materialistic type, but I've not had the chance to spoil you before. Let me do it at least this once."

Harry smiled and shrugged. "If you say so."

After a long, hectic day of shopping, they were loaded down with virtually everything Christine could think of buying for Harry. In spite of himself, he was frankly enjoying being spoiled; it was a cinch he'd never had anyone care this much about him before Sirius and Dumbledore, and even they hadn't done this much for him. As they passed the store where broomsticks were sold and Harry happened to catch a glimpse of a Nimbus brand broom in the window, albeit the newest model, a Three Thousand, he pointed it out to Christine.

"I had a broomstick like that for several years until it got destroyed in a very tough Quidditch game in very bad weather. I even recall falling several hundred feet, but fortunately the Quidditch teacher had cast a Cushioning Charm over the entire pitch so that even if I hit the ground, I wouldn't be badly injured. Even at that, I had the wind knocked out of me. Just the same, I was thankful that that was all that happened. Not long afterward, Sirius gave me my current broomstick, the Firebolt." Christine's eyes widened. "Haven't you heard of it? It's a racing broom and therefore perfect for my Quidditch playing."

"Oh yes, I've heard of them. I just wish _I_ could have been able to buy you something like that."

"No need to worry. You've already bought out half of Diagon Alley for me," Harry reminded her. "Thanks to you, I'm set for life."

"Which reminds me … I talked with my friend Spock and we believe there is a way to bring Sirius back." After speaking this, Christine set up a _Muffliato_ spell to be on the safe side, so in the event unfriendly ears were anywhere around, her and Harry's conversation would not be overheard.

Harry's eyes widened this time. "But how? He's dead!"

"No; we've determined that he just went into another dimension upon falling through the veil—or a parallel universe, as Spock and I usually refer to it. I just need to get him some necessary information so he can get us into that … parallel universe and rescue him."

Harry wanted to believe that Sirius was still alive, more than anything, but couldn't allow himself to get his hopes up after so long without him. "Do you know which … parallel universe he's in?"

"I believe so. We also have a pretty good idea where to look."

"Where?" came the curious question.

"This one planet we once went to to negotiate mining rights," she returned ambiguously. "That's all I can say, since the information is still classified … that is, still secret."

"Where would you need to go to get the information you need?"

"Spock suggested I start in the Department of Mysteries at the veil Sirius fell through, determine its properties and get the information to him."

Harry's ears perked up upon hearing this. "Could I go with you when you do it?"

"I don't know. It's been quite a while since I've been there; I'm not sure if they'll even let _me_ in."

"Will you try?" Harry's green eyes pleaded with her and Christine was unable to refuse him.

"I'll try. That's all I can promise."

"And is it okay for me to tell Gin and the others about this?"

"Shouldn't hurt. Just keep it among yourselves until everything's more set."

"Oh yeah, something else I meant to ask you," Harry remarked as they headed back out of Diagon Alley. "What happened at the Order meeting?"

Christine froze in her tracks, giving her godson a hard look, but began to speak. "I can't give you every detail, but the gist of it is that Dark forces are supposed to attack the Hogwarts Express while you and your classmates are aboard."

For a long time Harry was struck speechless, then said, almost too soft for Christine to hear, "Oh, my God. Have you figured out what you're going to do yet?"

"Spock has an idea on how to get you and the others to school safely, but since there are still several weeks to go before you need to be back, we're giving this other matter top priority. I'm sure you'd love to see Sirius again, and I definitely owe him many apologies for doubting him for so long."

"You know it," Harry assured her. "Can I also discuss this with my friends? I'm sure they could give some valuable input which would help you, especially Hermione."

"As I said, as long as you keep it among yourselves," Christine cautioned. "We'd better get back to the Burrow now. Ready?"

Harry smiled and nodded upon taking her arm, then the pair Disapparated with a faint _pop_.

It was fairly late, around midnight, when Christine finally prepared for bed and went to say good-night to Harry and his friends. However, when she passed Ginny's room, she found that the lights had been dimmed and that two figures were intricately entwined in the bed. As she got closer, she determined them to be Ginny and Harry; they were covered by a blanket but seemed to be naked underneath it, even though she could only see part of their top halves.

She decided not to bother them, since they looked both very peaceful and very happy, every bit as deeply in love as she and Sirius had once been. In fact she could recall many times when they had done similar things. She could only pray that Spock would be able to pull it off so they could find Sirius and she could hopefully make it up to him for doubting him so terribly.

Meanwhile, she simply smiled affectionately in the direction of the young lovers and blew them a good-night kiss, then turned and headed back to her own room, passing Hermione's room on the way and once again smiling knowingly when she noted that Ron was in bed with her through her half-open door; they were every bit as intricately entwined (not to mention naked) as Harry and Ginny. Kids grew up so fast these days, especially in the wizarding world.

It was hard to believe that Harry would be seventeen in just two weeks. Still seemed like yesterday that he was a babe in arms! The first chance she got, though, she would have to ask Harry if he'd had a chance to discuss things with his friends and Ginny, and if so, tell her what they'd come up with. For the moment, it was time for her to get some sleep as well and hopefully dream of being in Sirius's arms until and unless she could have the real thing again.


	7. Christine & the Department of Mysteries

Of course, even in the midst of all the buying for Harry, he and Christine managed to get wedding gifts for Fleur and Bill. However, it was Christine who took charge of wrapping them, then gave them to Molly to put with the rest of the gifts. Now that that was taken care of, it was time to arrange for her foray into the Department of Mysteries and see if she could find out anything about the veil into the other dimension (or more accurately, parallel universe) which Sirius had fallen through two years ago. It frankly wouldn't surprise her if he'd lived at least part of that time in his dog form, but she couldn't be sure until and if they managed to get to that universe again, not to mention that planet, and find him again.

Later that day Christine got another owl from Spock that said he had had a talk with Kirk, McCoy and Scott and they had agreed to assist them in getting Harry and his classmates safely to Hogwarts by putting them on the train for a short time in order to throw the Dark forces off the track. At a designated time, a half hour or so, once they were well away from the Kings Cross station, but before the Dark forces' attack an hour into the journey, the students would be beamed up to the _Enterprise_ via the cargo transporter, which could be modified to handle people, dozens at a time if necessary (in this case, it would be over one hundred).

They would be held in the Transporter Room temporarily, then beamed down again, back onto the train, once it reached Hogsmeade Station, so they would be able to retrieve their school trunks and such, then board the transport for Hogwarts, several top members of the Order designated to keep an eye on them until they had made it safely inside the castle … then stationed around the castle, on call virtually around the clock, at least until it could be determined whether or not Dark forces had figured out what had happened.

She was happy and relieved that they had agreed to help, her heart feeling far lighter as she Apparated to the Ministry and made her way to the Department of Mysteries. She had managed to find her old employees' badge and showed it to the wizard stationed outside the main door. Obviously if you had once worked there, you had continued access to the area—at least to a degree. Christine could only hope that that access extended to the area where the battle where Sirius had supposedly been lost had taken place. She would only be able to tell upon arriving there.

It was just as she remembered it; it was as if the nearly sixteen years between then and now had never been. But there was no time for nostalgia; she had a job to do. She turned on her tricorder, having modified it so it would work even in a place inundated with various spells and charms, in order to get the information she had promised Spock. After about half an hour she managed to find the veil Harry and Remus had described. At first glance it looked like an ordinary curtain, but she knew it wasn't. Nothing here was as it seemed—that was why this place was called the Department of Mysteries.

Despite her best efforts, however, the tricorder's readings and recording capabilities went virtually off the scale. Obviously the properties of the veil were very similar to those found in the ion storm which had originally opened up the portal between their universe and the Mirror universe, but at the same time, there were some readings very different from anything she had ever seen. She was a scientist, but even at that, these readings were beyond even her comprehension. Hopefully they would not be beyond Spock's, however. If anyone could figure them out, she was certain it would be him.

It took roughly an hour and a half before she was satisfied that she had enough information for Spock. It was incredible how much there was; it had filled up virtually all the tricorder's memory, and she knew she would have to put the information on a special high-density hard disk in order to ensure that all of it got to Spock so he could go over it, then discuss his findings with Kirk, McCoy and Scott before getting back to her.

Harry would not be pleased that she had gone without him, but she had checked on him and he and Ginny were still deeply asleep when she had left early that morning, so she opted not to disturb them, because they deserved whatever peace and tranquility came their way, not to mention the ability to simply be alone together, young and in love.

Upon returning to her room, Christine scribbled a note to Spock and gave it to the owl that had brought her the message from him. "Take this to Spock," she told the bird, opening the window so it could depart. Within the hour she heard a knock on her door.

"Christine, it's Spock. May I come in?" his deep, throaty voice called quietly.

Christine opened the door and wordlessly ushered him in. "Your note said that you had analysed the veil at the Department of Mysteries. May I know what you found out?"

She handed him the hard disk with the information. "Everything I discovered is on this disk. One thing I can say, however, is that the veil seems to have many of the same properties in the ion storm which originally opened the portal between our universe and the Mirror universe. Even at that, I found some readings I simply could not comprehend, like nothing I've ever seen before. Hopefully you can, and take steps so we can get back to the Mirror universe and Halka in that universe to hopefully find my … friend Sirius."

"Hopefully," he echoed. "That depends on whether or not I can decipher the unusual readings." He turned for the door, one hand on the knob. "I will contact you at my earliest opportunity. Thank you for all you've done so far."

"Thank you for being willing to help me save Harry and his classmates," she returned softly, smiling in a way that made Spock's heart rate speed up further than it already was—and that was saying something! He returned the smile and put his hand on her cheek briefly, then departed.


	8. The Order's Plan

It was roughly ten o'clock before she heard another knock on her door and Harry's voice. "Christine, can I come in?"

She opened the door, somehow not surprised to find that he had brought his friends with him-- including Ginny--pretending not to notice that she and Harry were holding hands, while Ron and Hermione had their arms around each other. "Have you gone to the Department of Mysteries yet?"

"I'm afraid so. Sorry I couldn't wait for you, but I left quite early and didn't want to disturb any of you."

"May we know what you found out, at least?" Harry asked, the four young people seating themselves at the foot of Christine's bed as she got back onto it and sat cross-legged, facing them.

Once she had told them, Harry asked, "Have you contacted your friend Spock with the information?"

"Yes. He has it, and says he'll let me know what he finds out."

"How long do you think it'll be before you hear back?" Hermione put in.

"No idea. Depends on how long it takes him to decipher it."

"What about the plan to get us to school safely?" Ron asked, Ginny's eyes asking the same question even as each of their hands found their partner's again and held tightly to them for strength.

"Spock says he's discussed it with our friends and colleagues aboard ship and they're willing to help us. Can't give you a lot of details yet, of course, but I can say that it involves our transporter mechanism, whose operation is somewhat similar to the Apparition we generally do when we need to get somewhere quickly that's quite far away."

"Would we be … transported aboard your ship?" Harry couldn't help asking.

"Temporarily, then held in the Transporter Room until your school train reaches its destination, then transported back to the train to pick up your school trunks and go to the school. The Order has already arranged for designated members to maintain a protective vigil around the school once you arrive until we can determine whether or not the Dark forces have realised that none of you were aboard." There was a silence almost thick enough to cut by the time Christine finished and she gave Harry a questioning look. "You _have_ decided to return to school, haven't you?"

"Yes," Harry returned quietly, although Christine could tell he was still reluctant. All he same, he had obviously realised that she was right in insisting that he and his friends finish their education, but at the same time they would be able to research things … things to help them win over Dark forces … but most importantly, things that could be found only at the school.

"Good. Glad to hear it. Meanwhile, have you got anything else you want to discuss with me?" Christine asked. "Remember, Harry, you said you would tell your friends about what we discussed that day at Diagon Alley and let me know what you decided."

"Oh, yeah, we did," the young wizard replied. "Just got a bit … distracted. Let's get to it." With that, their discussion began.

It was some hours later before everything Christine had learned and the plans being made for the students' protection so far had been made known to Harry and company. He made sure to tell her before they parted that he wanted to hear about any new developments as to protective measures that Spock and company were taking to get him and his classmates back to school safely. Christine assured him she would, and after hugs between Harry, Ginny and Christine, the four young people left.

She showered and prepared for bed, but just as she was ready to go to bed, the owl she and Spock used for communications purposes flew in through her open window in an upper floor of the Burrow, which was now being used for Order Headquarters. She was too tired to do more than skim it, but the gist of it was that Spock had managed to figure out the unusual readings gleaned from the unusual veil.

It had been difficult even for him, but that he had figured a way for them to get into the parallel universe in the vicinity of Halka and look for Sirius. Naturally a lot of what he said was scientific jargon that was far over even her head, but she gathered that it had something to do with "the relationship between antimatter and the space-time continuum," whatever that meant.

She'd have to figure a way to describe the latest communication to Harry and his friends, especially this part, but the part about what Spock and company intended to do to help them wouldn't be nearly as difficult. She knew that the train's function was set up so that it could automatically function, albeit temporarily, even if its engineers were incapacitated. Just long enough to get it to its intended destination—in this case, Hogsmeade Station.

Regarding the attack on the Hogwarts Express, they had learned that Voldemort and company intended to use something that didn't affect the mechanics of the train, just the people. Knowing what the Dark Lord was capable of, even after years away from the wizarding world because of her correspondence with her late grandfather, she didn't want to imagine what that might be. She also wouldn't put it past the Dark forces to change their plans and attack the train sooner than the Order knew, so they had to be ready to move and act at virtually any time. Christine also intended to suggest that some Order members Polyjuice into certain members of the Hogwarts student body just long enough to fool the Dark forces into thinking they had gotten Harry and his classmates while in reality they would be safely aboard the _Enterprise._

She was sure that Harry and his friends wouldn't like that idea but they wouldn't tell them their plans until after they were aboard ship. He, and they, were risking enough as it was and they couldn't afford anything happening to them before the proper time. For the time being, she needed to get some sleep, then upon awakening, contact Remus and have him get everyone in the Order together to make some new plans and have further discussions. After that, she would owl Spock and tell him about them so he and the others could act in order to properly accommodate them.


	9. The Plan Implemented

_A/N: Warning--__DH spoilers._

Upon hearing back from Remus that the Order meeting was all set up and that they were waiting for her, Christine owled back that she was on her way and would be there shortly. They made sure to put Silencing Charms on the door and ceiling so no sound would leak from the room to the young people prematurely.

It was mainly the older members who disliked the idea of Polyjuicing, but Christine argued, "Better that than risking the boys and girls themselves. Now we've got to decide who's going to take their places and get hair from each of them. There'll be a trick to it, of course, without letting on to them what we're up to, but as I said, better that than risking their lives any more than absolutely necessary."

In the end it was decided that Remus, Tonks, Fred and George, and Bill and Fleur would be the ones to Polyjuice themselves into Harry and his closest friends. Remus and Tonks would be Harry and Ginny, Fred and George would be Ron and Neville, and Bill and Fleur would be Hermione and Luna. It might be uncomfortable for Bill to play a female, even temporarily, but it was determined that it was best for (almost) everyone chosen to play someone of their own gender.

Christine wanted to be one of the chosen ones, but it was decided that she needed to be available to go with Spock when the time came to look for Sirius on the alternate Halka … so she reluctantly backed off and made plans for when she saw Sirius again. Especially since she had heard the truth of what happened when James and Lily had been killed and the way she had treated Sirius, she was sure she could never apologise to him enough. She could only hope he could find it in his heart to forgive her.

Technically, since Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, someone who could change their appearance at will, she didn't really need to Polyjuice, so they would only need to worry about getting hair from Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione and Luna. Christine decided to be the one to get the hair from the girls, while Remus got the hair from the boys. It was while they were all down at breakfast that Christine and Remus decided to check their combs and brushes and go from there. (They Apparated to Luna's and Neville's homes for theirs.)

Over the next several weeks, the young people prepared to return to school, as well as to go aboard the _Enterprise_ at the proper time. Christine felt guilty at not telling Harry everything that Spock had told her in that regard, but knew she had to keep him and his friends as safe as possible, if only because of their necessity to the wizarding world. With their tempers, she could only hope that they would eventually forgive her for keeping them in the dark.

This time, when it came time to get the teenagers onto the train, Christine went along with the Weasleys and bade goodbye to Harry and his friends, hugging him and Ginny and wishing the others good luck. Just the same, all were aware of what was going to happen as soon as the train was out of sight of the station, and all those on the _Enterprise_ were standing by to beam up the Hogwarts students, then another transporter platform the transformed replacements would be standing by to go down and take their places.

Even though they had been told to expect the kind of sensation they would feel when they were beaming up to the ship, the students all got funny looks on their faces when it happened. Even when they got safely aboard ship and found Kirk and company waiting to greet them, it was for-tunate that they were too involved in looking around at the ship, marveling at the futuristic décor and the colourful Starfleet uniforms, not to mention the various skin and hair colours of the crew.

It wasn't until an hour later and the students, invited to the rec room for a meal, were tucking in that Harry thought to ask where Remus and the others were. All they were told was that they were on Order business and no one would elaborate on just what kind of business. Harry didn't argue, although he was sure he knew (or at least suspected) just what kind of business. For this reason, he fully intended to have some choice words with those most concerned as to why they had kept them in the dark until they had been unable to stop them.

"I'm sure they'll tell you how things went when they get back, Harry," Christine explained. "Meanwhile, please don't be too upset with them—or me. We were just trying to keep you and your friends safe."

Harry gave his godmother a sharp look, his eyes blazing green as Lily's always had when she was angry, then his face softened. "I still wish you'd seen fit to tell us what you were up to."

"Maybe once you're all officially in the Order. Until then, we reserve the right to keep secrets from you all if we deem that doing so is in your best interests."

"You know I'll be seventeen soon," he reminded her. "You won't be able to keep anything from me—or any of us, for that matter—once we're in the Order."

Christine knew he and the others probably wouldn't be inducted until after the Final Battle and Voldemort had been vanquished, so she wasn't too worried about the current mission. It was any subsequent missions that she was concerned about—and it wouldn't surprise her if Harry insisted on accompanying her and Spock to look for Sirius. Not that she could blame him for wanting to, but she didn't think he would be allowed to go.

Technically, only Starfleet officers could go on official landing or search parties. Of course, Kirk might bend rules enough in this case so Harry could go. It was a good thing that the subject hadn't come up yet; otherwise it was likely that she would never hear the end of it from him—or any of them, for that matter. Meanwhile, they had more important matters to concern themselves with.

Christine knew how long it usually took the Hogwarts Express to get to Hogsmeade Station, so they made sure to have enough Polyjuice to last them until the arrival there. As it turned out, Sunning Spells were the means used on everyone aboard, especially affecting the ones who had replaced Harry and company. The progress of the train was monitored until it reached the station. A squad of Aurors from the Order was standing by there, along with a few of the _Enterprise_ Security contingent in plain clothes and carrying concealed weapons, to check the status of everything and everyone aboard upon arrival.

It wasn't until surface contact had been made by a still-disguised Remus that it was deemed safe to bring the students down and get them to the school in the regular way. Even at that, there would still be the same squad guarding them at the school until it had been determined that the Dark forces had been fooled. How long they would remain so was the question, so they had to remain vigilant until they knew one way or the other.

Again, Christine hugged Harry and Ginny when it came time to beam them down to the station to pick up their school trunks, imploring each of them to contact her once they were settled in and attending classes again. She knew nothing was likely to happen to them or their friends once they were in Hagrid's hands, because not too many were foolish enough to attack even a half-giant. Just looking at him would be intimidating enough for most people.

Of course, the Death Eaters and Voldemort weren't most people. Even at that, there were too many protective spells and wards on Hogwarts to make it feasible for Dark forces to attack them, at least not at present, so with the Aurors and Security contingent guarding them, they were as safe as those most concerned could make them. It was decided to leave a small contingent of Security personnel there to assist the Aurors for the foreseeable future (and only the Security personnel involved were told the true nature of their mission), admonishing them to keep them informed of everything that went on while they were on duty because they had to get back to their regular missions.

It was several weeks later, during the first Hogsmeade weekend, that Christine met with Harry and his friends in the Three Broomsticks and told them of their plans to go back to the area where they had been virtually zapped into the Mirror universe. Harry admonished her to tell him when they planned to go and that he wanted to accompany the search party if at all possible.

Christine assured him she would look into the possibility but couldn't make any guarantees, especially owing to the uncertainty of both school rules and schedules and Starfleet regulations regarding away missions. Only Ginny wasn't of age yet, so if they wanted to go, it was technically all but impossible to stop them from going.

Even Starfleet had a requirement as to age, basically the same as the wizarding world, and Harry was now seventeen, as was Ron, and Hermione had just turned eighteen, her birthday being in September. Ginny was sixteen, as was Luna, but Neville was seventeen, so he could technically ask to go if he so wished. However, it was easiest if the least amount of people went on the party—and the minimum amount was two on a mission like this. Of course, Harry would never forgive her if she didn't include him on this one, so in that event, there would be three—herself, Harry and Spock.

Christine was pleased to learn that they had learned of the location of two of the Horcruxes and had even managed to destroy one of them because it had been in the Room of Requirement—the Ravenclaw diadem which had been lost for centuries. They'd even discovered the identity of R.A.B., who turned out to be Sirius's brother Regulus. He had become disenchanted when he was expected to kill Kreacher and wouldn't do it; instead, he had figured it so he was killed instead, saving the elf by throwing himself in front of the Dark Lord's wand when he cast the _Avada_ _Kedavra_.

The fake locket left in place of the original Horcrux was now in Kreacher's possession; Harry had given it to him and the formerly nasty elf was now almost as slavishly devoted to him as Dobby had been. Harry had a pretty good idea where the real locket Horcrux was but couldn't do anything about it until the next school vacation at the earliest. He didn't want to try to do anything during the weekend because he had no idea how long it would take and didn't want to interfere any more in his schooling than absolutely necessary—if only to keep everyone off his back about it. Just the same, he knew, at least intellectually, that a good education was important, which was the main thing keeping him in school. Dumbledore had left him an old Snitch, the first one he had ever caught, and the Sword of Gryffindor, at least technically.

Unfortunately the Minister of Magic, Scrimgeour, wouldn't let him have it, and they had rowed over it before the man had left in an angry huff. Of course, this was before it was learned that the Sword in the case in the Head's office was a fake and it was unknown where the real one was. For that reason, it was unlikely that it would be found before it was truly needed. Hermione had found in the Hogwarts: A History" book that the Sword was rumoured to be able to destroy Horcruxes. Too bad they couldn't know where it was now; it would be a lot easier to destroy the Horcruxes as they found them if they had the Sword in their possession.

It was also learned from Christine that Dumbledore's hand had been blackened and injured when he had destroyed the ring Horcrux. It had turned out to be cursed and he had used the real Sword to do so, but it had aggravated the poison in the potion he had been forced to drink in the Horcrux cave. Upon examining her grandfather, Christine had found that that same poison was slowly killing him. She eventually surmised that it was shortly after her diagnosis that he had planned his death and for it to do some good by having Snape kill him because they knew that Draco would be unable to do it—that Voldemort had, in fact, expected him to fail all along.

There was far more that Harry and company would learn, but for the moment they had other things which concerned them more. Hermione was still doing research as to possible locations for the Horcruxes and believed that another, possibly Hufflepuff's cup, would likely be located in the Gringotts vault of Voldemort's most devoted follower, Bellatrix Lestrange. But as mentioned before, Harry would be unable to check out these things until he had some free time away from school.

And even then, that would depend on when the _Enterprise_ and her crew intended to head for where Christine and Spock believed that Sirius might be. He had told her he wanted to be there if at all possible, but sometimes fate conspired against a person, and considering the kind of life he had had, Harry had to expect such a thing to muck things up for him. But he could live with it if their theory turned out to be right and Sirius was actually alive in a parallel universe and they were able to bring him back to be reunited with him and his other loved ones. For the time being, he had best knuckle down and get his current homework done.


	10. Finding Sirius

It was several weeks before they were able to go on the mission to find Sirius, mainly to accommodate Harry's school schedule and Starfleet missions. Meanwhile, Hermione spent much of her non-class time in the Hogwarts library researching ways to destroy Horcruxes and so far had found an old legend which said that the Sword of Gryffindor was permeated with basilisk venom, which was one of the things which could destroy Horcruxes. She had also found something in one of the books from the Restricted Section, another thing which could destroy Horcruxes—something called Fiendfyre, a type of magical fire. Harry couldn't help thinking that it sounded like an ideal thing to use. Hermione would have agreed … except for the fact that once it was started, there was virtually no way to stop it.

Harry ended up having to agree with her, however reluctantly, and couldn't help wishing that he'd had the chance to speak with Dumbledore in more detail about his quest to discover the whereabouts of the Horcruxes. In fact, it wouldn't surprise him at all if the wise old wizard knew far more than he had ever been able to tell him. He even suspected that one of them might have had something to do with the injury to his right hand which had blackened it up to the elbow. Dumbledore had promised to tell him the story behind that, but for some inexplicable reason, he had never gotten around to it.

It was getting toward the end of October, the anniversary of James and Lily's death— not something either Harry, Christine (or Remus, for that matter) was looking forward to—when the _Enterprise_finally began to make its way to Halka. The only good thing about the scheduling of the mission was the possibility they might get Sirius back. Kirk had authorised a week to search for Sirius, and upon learning what was necessary for possibly finding and rescuing him, left the technical details to Spock. Christine had been meaning to ask him about that for some time but had never had the chance. Now that they were finally heading for Halka, maybe she would be able to find out what else he had learned, if anything.

They arrived at "their" Halka some hours later and Spock had gone down to Engineering to work with Scotty on re-creating the ion storm which had originally put them into the Mirror Universe. Harry was hanging around Kirk and Christine on the Bridge, a mixture of nervousness and anticipation making them almost literal basket cases at the prospect of possibly finding Sirius alive and renewing acquaintances, in more ways than one.

He had brought his friends with him; unfortunately, since he was the only one with permission to go on the mission, they had to spend time in their rooms doing more research on Horcruxes. However, no one could refuse Harry's request that they accompany him, if only for moral support. Harry had reached for Christine's hand and was clutching it like a lifeline, his eyes fixed on the starfield on the viewscreen which periodically showed the upper quarter of the Halkan planetary disc.

A short time later, about fifteen minutes, the doors to the Bridge turbolift opened and Spock strode out. Christine was the only one who noticed, however. Harry's gaze was still fixed on the viewscreen, scarcely noticing when she released his hand and flexed her fingers, trying to regain feeling in her hand. It was for sure that he didn't know his own strength under stress; not that she could blame him.

"Well, what's the latest, Spock?" she finally said in a stage whisper.

"I have arranged with Mr. Scott to arrange the conditions to re-create the ion storm to get us into the Mirror Universe. In just a few moments, in fact, the ship will begin to shake and rock … so I suggest we 'batten down the hatches,' as it were."

Kirk looked up and the two command officers exchanged apprehensive glances, remembering all too well what had happened the last time they had been here. Within half an hour the ship was shaking and rocking—so much so that everyone that was on their feet was hard-pressed to stay that way. Even Harry had somehow been shaken out of his trance-like state, once again taking his place next to Christine when the Captain gave Sulu command and motioned to Spock, Christine and Harry and the small group entered the turbolift in preparation for beaming down.

It was definitely dangerous to try to beam down during such a storm, but after learning they had crossed over into the parallel universe, it was only a matter of time until they were due to begin their mission.

Fortunately this time they managed to reach the planet this time, and the parallel-Halka was similar enough to the one in their own universe that Spock was able to find his way around quite easily. Christine knew Sirius's habits, as well as the fact he was an Animagus, so she kept a sharp lookout for either a big shaggy black dog rummaging around in trash bins around homes and businesses or a long-haired, bearded, skinny six-foot-two man doing the same. Harry had been offered an official Fleet jacket but that was as close as he could come to being in uniform.

In fact, Spock's research had unearthed the fact that civilians _could_ go on away missions, but only with official Starfleet officers—so no regulations were being broken by allowing Harry to accompany them. Christine had also warned her godson that he had to follow both her and Spock's orders, or else he would be beamed back up to the ship and not allowed to accompany them on the mission and hopefully find Sirius.

She remembered all too well what big pranksters James, Sirius and company had been, and after speaking to Remus about the mis-adventures Harry and his friends had experienced, she knew that he was just as much of one as his father had been. He was a good kid at heart and didn't generally break rules except for a good reason, but she couldn't be sure how long he would behave this time, even with herself and Spock keeping an eye on him. Probably the only reason he had behaved this long was due to the fact that he wanted to be there when and if Sirius was found and couldn't afford to get in trouble.

It was nearly dark and they still hadn't found hide nor hair of Sirius. Both Christine and Harry had started the day with high hopes, but Spock soon voiced the possibility that Sirius wasn't in this universe or this planet. Neither of the others wanted to believe that, but after searching all day and finding nothing, they reluctantly had to admit the possibility that he might be right.

It was around six o'clock in the evening local time when the group approached a local restaurant for some dinner, both Harry and Christine's faces wearing looks of weariness, disappointment and sadness. They touched Spock and he vowed to do all he possibly could to find the person they were so eager to locate, whatever that entailed. "Do not despair, young Mr. Potter, Christine. I am … fairly certain that we will find him eventually."

"Yeah, sure," Harry returned glumly, just picking at his food, even though Christine, who forced a smile in response to Spock's attempted reassurance, knew he was hungry. But his appetite was tempered by both his anticipation of possibly seeing Sirius alive again and the equal and sobering possibility that he was not here—either in this universe or on this planet.

It wasn't until they were ready to leave the restaurant that their luck changed.

They were heading back to their ground vehicle when they heard the noise of nearby trash bins being investigated and the occasional pleased growls of a large dog who had found a choice morsel of food which had been tossed away. Harry heard it first and insisted on investigating, finding a large, black shaggy dog rummaging into an overflowing trash can. He got as close as he dared—and when the dog looked at him and growled, Harry noted the unusual eye colouring—soft grey, which was most unusual for a dog. They usually had brown eyes … and Sirius had grey eyes. He motioned Christine over after meeting her eyes and sharing unspoken, renewed hope that they just _might_ have struck paydirt.

"Christine, do you think—?"

"Possible," she returned tentatively. "Sirius? Sirius, it's Christine … and Harry. Can we speak to you?"

But the dog merely growled at them and disappeared. The light left Harry's eyes and his shoulders slumped. He had been so sure it was Sirius … and Christine didn't look any happier. But just then she heard a voice she had never dreamed she'd ever hear again.

"Christine? How can it possibly be you?"

Just then, a skinny, long-haired, bearded man in ragged clothes approached them.

"Sirius? Oh, _Sirius_! It's so wonderful to see you again … and Remus and Harry told me the truth of what happened. I'm so sorry I didn't have more faith in you. Can you ever forgive me?" Christine opened her arms and ran toward Sirius, who ran into hers and they embraced fiercely and kissed for a long time.

"Merlin's beard, Christine, I've missed you so much!"

It was several blissful moments later that the couple reluctantly separated and Harry and Sirius's eyes met. "Harry …"

"Sirius," the young man returned shakily, tears of happiness filling his eyes as he walked over to his godfather and flung himself into his arms. "Oh, _Sirius_! Thank Merlin!" For a long time they embraced fiercely and both cried unashamedly on each other's shoulders. In spite of himself Spock couldn't help but allow himself a pleased smile. Their hunch had paid off, big-time, and he had been part of the team who had brought them back together after two years.

However, he and Christine had been dating, enough so that she trusted him enough  
to tell him of her one-time relationship with Sirius and her hope that they would eventually get back together—which didn't bode well for his own plans regarding her. Unfortunately, it was his own fault that he hadn't taken steps to make her his own a long time ago. In which case, he could only wish her … _them_… well.

It was definitely about time something went well for young Harry as well, he had had such a difficult life, having had to grow up far faster than any child should have to, even in the wizarding world. Well, now his life would be a little easier now that the guilt that he had possibly been responsible for his godfather's supposed death had been eased, if not totally eradicated.

"How long have you been looking for me?" Sirius asked, one arm around Christine and the other around Harry, both of them reluctant to move from his side and their arms around him too. Spock was too preoccupied to hear their answer as they headed back to the beamdown point and once there, Spock would tell them of their successful mission.

Once they reached it, Spock flipped open his communicator—smiling inwardly at the happiness positively radiating from both Christine and Harry as they gazed upon Sirius—and said, "Spock here. Mission accomplished. We have located the person we have been searching for."

"Congratulations, Spock. Bring him here to my quarters; I'll contact young Harry's friends and have them here too. Kirk out."


	11. Sirius Settles In

Of course, Sirius made sure to clean up so he didn't look so disreputable, tying back  
his long hair with a piece of ragged cloth. Christine synthesised a uniform for him with no rank insignia, a red shirt and black trousers with boots. Once he had showered and changed into this outfit, she deemed him fit to face Kirk and Spock. Harry and his friends didn't want to stay behind and argued strenuously against it, but reluctantly gave in when both Christine and Sirius assured them they would fill them in on how it had gone when they returned. Meanwhile, they were welcome to watch a movie or something and have something to eat while they were waiting; Christine showed them how to use the computer to call up the movie and the food service computer for meals. This didn't mollify them much, but it made it easier to wait.

It was several hours before they returned, and when they did, the four young people were in the midst of the film they had chosen. However, they were more interested in finding out how the briefing with Kirk and Spock had gone and told themselves they could finish watching the movie later. How much later, none could have said, but later nonetheless.

In the end, Sirius and Christine decided to sit down and watch the remainder of the film with the four teenagers. Harry and Ginny curled up in each other's arms next to them on the couch, while Ron and Hermione curled up on the floor, propped up by the pillows from the bed in the room. Even at that, Harry didn't like waiting to find out what had happened during the briefing. Just the same, he knew it wasn't good to pressure Sirius if he didn't want to discuss something just yet, any more than he himself did.

There were times when the young couple on the couch stole looks in the direction of the older couple. Christine was curled up next to Sirius and he had his arms around her, her head cradled on his shoulder. There were even times he turned and kissed the top of her head before resting his cheek on it. Definitely reminiscent of themselves. In fact, it wouldn't surprise either of them one bit if they got together again … or even decided to marry. Harry would gladly return control of Sirius's possessions to him if he so wished it, and intended to tell him so at the first opportunity.

He also intended to ask Christine the first chance he got about her relationship with Spock, but couldn't do it in his godfather's presence. It was just that he had gotten the impression that she had cared deeply for him and they had been seeing each other socially the last several weeks in between all the recent happenings. Could Sirius's return have prompted her to have a change of heart? Possible, but he couldn't be sure—which was why he had to ask.

It was at least technically too late by the time the movie finished for them to do much discussion of the briefing, but everyone concerned was too keyed up to sleep, so they decided to do at least some tonight—but Christine decided that the moment anyone showed any signs of weariness, they would stop and continue the following day. All agreed to abide by her admonition, however reluctantly, and the discussions commenced shortly thereafter.

It wasn't until the following morning, however, that they were able to get the really serious questions answered. Harry and his friends, along with Christine (Sirius, Spock and Kirk had called and said they were on their way and would be there shortly), so Harry took this opportunity to ask Christine about Spock.

"I thought you said that you were seeing Spock and that you had … affection for him," he reminded her.

"Oh, I have … but I never stopped caring for Sirius, either. After all, we _were_ once engaged."

"Do you intend to get back together with him? It certainly seems like you do, considering the way the two of you were acting last night."

"Let's just say that I'm seriously considering it," Christine finally admitted. "But we can't make any serious plans until Sirius is officially back … and for that, I need to contact the Order and tell them, then contact the Ministry so they can take steps to officially announce that he didn't die after all, just went into another dimension. Of course, since we assumed that he had been killed, they processed his will and you inherited all of his possessions. Now that we know he 's alive again, won't you want to return them to him?"

"Of course; that's not the issue. I was just wondering what you intended to do in regards to your relationships with them."

"We'll worry about that once everything's settled again. Meanwhile, we need to make plans in regards to you and your friends' tracking down and destroying the Horcruxes so we can take care of Voldemort once and for all." She would have said more, but it was at this moment that the doors to the Officers' Lounge swished open and Kirk, Spock and Sirius walked in, the latter two deep in conversation. Christine couldn't believe that they could have found such a strong rapport so soon; maybe it had something to do with the fact of their respective relationships with Christine and Harry.

Sirius reached her first; the couple hugged and kissed, then he seated her at the nearest corner group which would seat several people at the same table. Harry, sitting next to his godfather on his left, looked at Spock, sitting across from him, and couldn't help noting that except for his eyes, his face was expressionless, and those eyes showed considerable pain and jealousy, although he said not a word against the pair.

"So, Spock old chap, how long have you and Christine known each other? She and I have known each other since our school days at Hogwarts … roughly … oh, about twenty years now," Sirius remarked before taking a drink of synthetic pumpkin juice to wash down a bite of synthetic mince pie.

Spock wasn't one to speak overmuch of anything personal, but it would be only polite to respond, especially since no one was present that he minded knowing the answer to the question. "I would estimate about eighteen point two-five years. We first met shortly after the _Enterprise_'s first five-year mission, when I was assigned as First Officer and she as Head Nurse."

When the young people heard this, they naturally asked him to relate at least one mission that Spock and Christine had gone on together. Unfortunately, Spock couldn't think of many that he would be willing to share with anyone other than his friends. They ended up giving him a funny look at his reluctance to speak, then seeking out Christine, who gently admonished, "You shouldn't ask him something like that, Harry. Vulcans aren't ones to discuss anything they consider personal, and besides, most of the missions are still classified … that is, secret—and to tell anyone outside Starfleet about them would be a breach of regulations."

"Well said, Christine," Spock returned quietly. "However, you may feel free to discuss them with your godson and his friends outside of this room."

"Thanks for giving me permission, Spock, but most of the missions we went on, things happened between us that were … well … quite personal, and even as much as I love and trust Harry and his friends, I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing those things with them."

"Even if we promised we wouldn't say anything about them to anyone?" Hermione put in. "All of us know how to keep secrets, especially about each other. If we can keep our own secrets, it shouldn't be too hard to keep yours. If necessary, we'll even take an Unbreakable Vow."

Christine thought for a time, knowing what that involved, then smiled. "I'll consider it. Meanwhile, let's finish our food before it gets cold. I don't know about the rest of you, but I, for one, don't care to try to eat this stuff after it gets cold." That was all it took for the rest to resume eating, discussing the briefing in between bites.

Over the next several weeks, steps were taken to announce Sirius's return to the world and Harry to return his possessions to him. Of course, all of the young people had lifetime access to the house on Grimmauld Place and Sirius invited them to visit him whenever they liked. There was even a most heartwarming get-together of the two remaining Marauders when a married Remus and Tonks (who had just discovered that she was pregnant) came aboard for a while to welcome Sirius back. They made a definite date for him to re-join the Order and catch up on all that had happened in his absence. There was even a point shortly before the Order and Harry and his friends sat down to discuss what was best to do in order to track down and destroy the Horcruxes that Harry and Sirius found themselves alone for a while. Harry took this opportunity to ask him about his relationship with Christine.

"I'll understand if you don't want to discuss it, Padfoot, but Christine has told me all I think that she intends to. Even at that, I'm sure there's more I still don't know. Could you tell me?"

"Well, I suppose I could tell you a few things …" the older man conceded. "But don't be surprised if they're edited, at least to a degree. Also, don't breathe a word to Christine, or she'll likely hex me into next year."

"As long as you tell me."

Sirius sighed and said, "Have a seat, then, mate, and I'll tell you what I can."


	12. Preparing for Battle

_**Harry Potter and the Starship Enterprise, 12**_

After two weeks it was necessary for the _Enterprise_ to resume her missions; by this time, however, selected members of the crew had met the Order, up to and including Arthur Weasley. One can just imagine how he reacted when he learned that Spock was extraterrestrial, the older man making it a point to talk to the Vulcan whenever he got the chance. The questions he asked sometimes bordered on intrusive, but because Arthur was a friend of Christine, Sirius and Harry, the Vulcan simply reinforced his mental shields, especially when Arthur happened to touch him.

It was only after they left that Christine gently admonished him not to do that because Spock was a touch-telepath and could feel the emotions of everyone who happened to touch him. He didn't want to feel obligated to maintain full shields all the time, so he asked those he associated with not to touch him unless absolutely necessary—even those he was closest to, like Kirk, McCoy and now Christine.

"Sorry about that, Christine. I had no idea. I was just so eager to speak with him, an actual extraterrestrial …" Arthur's voice was properly contrite, yet at the same time, held awe at meeting someone from another planet, even though he was well aware of Spock's Human parentage. "And to think he has natural Legilimency, too."

"Don't worry, I understand—as does Spock. It's happened to him many times. Just don't do it unless you can't get his attention any other way. But we can't stay aboard ship any longer. It's already been out of service too long. We just wanted to make sure that we had all the facts on our mission to retrieve Sirius."

"Merlin, it's great to have him back—yet all the same, hard to believe he wasn't really dead, just in another dimension. I imagine there's going to be a lot of changes once the Wizarding world knows he's back, huh?"

"I think we better hold off on that as long as we can, give Sirius time to settle back in, rejoin the Order and all that. Not to mention the Final Battle."

"Do you think Sirius will join the Final Battle?"

"Are you kidding? That's a foregone conclusion, especially if his friends, such as Remus and Tonks—and Harry—are in it! He'll want to do all he can to help, whatever happens to him."

"But we just got him back. We don't want to lose him again … and what's more, for good this time."

"I know, but we can't live his life for him, Arthur. He's a grown man; it's his decision."

Christine had her own reasons for wanting Sirius to remain alive, to make up to him as  
best she could for doubting him for so long and so terribly. Sirius had assured her he now understood why she had reacted as she did and didn't hold it against her, which was just like him … but she felt a moral obligation to do it. She had to, if only to ease her conscience, which had kicked in big-time once she had been informed that Sirius had been innocent of all charges against him.

At the same time, she had become closer to Spock than she had ever imagined possible; he had even kissed her a number of times and held her in his arms, her head on his shoulder. Other times, she had sat with Spock's head in her lap and stroked his silky dark hair, even teasing the points of his ears, which she had discovered were extraordinarily sensitive to the touch. At the same time, she loved making him shiver by stroking them when he least expected it. There was even one time that their kisses and caresses had turned passionate, even intimate, and Spock had even asked her to bond with him before what would turn out to be their one and only time of physical intimacy. Only her lingering feelings for Sirius had stopped her.

She couldn't in all good conscience just leave him behind again so quickly or easily, not after all the trouble they had gone to to retrieve him, no matter what her feelings for Spock. She also wanted as much quality time with him as she could manage to get before things started heating up, heading for the inevitable battle between those of the Light and Voldemort and all those of the Dark he could rally to his cause.

Of course, she also hoped that Kirk and company would be willing to help the Wizarding world fight this great threat to not only it but the entire inhabited Galaxy, if not the universe, but that depended on the timing of said battle. They needed all the help they could get, and with the _Enterprise_'s futuristic weaponry they would have a significant edge—but couldn't let Voldemort know they had any such thing in reserve, or else he would do all he could to sabotage it, if not use some of his cohorts to do it for him.

Harry had even confessed to her the several times over the last two weeks that he had either had visions of what Voldemort was thinking and feeling via his dreams or pain in his scar, convinced that it meant the Dark Lord was planning his battle strategy and that the Light had best do so as well, so he had had his friends--including Ginny, Neville and Luna--doing all possible research on defensive spells they could use against the Death Eaters, dementors and werewolves, as well as any other Dark creature Voldemort might decide to use.

It was fortunate that by this time Hagrid had acted as emissary to the giants and managed to convince at least one fairly large group to rally to the Light, owling the Order about it at the first opportunity and assuring them he would be fighting right along with them and even get his half-brother Grawp into the act.

Sirius had also been inducted into the Order as soon as they had gotten back to the planet's surface. Once he had been welcomed back properly, they all sat down and discussed battle strategy themselves, using what input Harry (who was now a full-fledged member, along with Ron and Hermione; Ginny wouldn't be old enough for a few months yet) could give them as to what was in the Dark Lord's mind to plan the course of action which they believed would be most likely to grant them victory.

They didn't expect to come out of it unscathed, nor did they expect to get through such a horrendous battle without a significant number of casualties, but fully intended to do their best to minimise them. They would frankly consider themselves lucky if they all came out alive, even if not uninjured. And just as Christine had surmised, Sirius fully intended to join the battle, despite her and Harry's protests. He understood their concern and wish not to lose him again.

He showed his appreciation by giving them both grateful hugs and kisses but finally told them gently but firmly that he just couldn't sit by while people he cared about were risking their lives. It would be an insult to the memory of all those who had sacrificed themselves in the First Wizarding War, most specifically, his closest friend and his wife, Harry's parents. James and Lily would never forgive him if he sat out the battle. If only for the sake of honouring their memory, he had to do all he could to further the cause they had all fought and so many had died for. Neither could he bear to see anything happen to either Harry or Christine … especially if he was able to prevent it. And no matter how much they tried to assure themselves otherwise, everyone knew the battle was coming. It was inevitable, like the sunrise and sunset. Their days of peace were numbered.


	13. Angry Confrontation

Of course, Spock and Christine naturally made sure to tell each other they would keep in touch while apart before the Enterprise departed; all the same, Spock had an unshakable feeling of dread which told him that Christine was leaning more and more toward resuming her former romance with her one-time fiancé from the Wizarding world. He wouldn't blame her if she did; Sirius Black definitely seemed to have more to offer her than he did, even after all that he had experienced. And it wasn't as if he, Spock, would be unable to find someone to replace her …

Even as he thought it, though, the Vulcan knew he would not. Christine wasn't that easily replaced. No matter what he told himself to the contrary, that would always be an undeniable fact. But he couldn't stand in her way; after all she had been through, she deserved peace of mind and happiness with someone who truly loved her, even if that someone wasn't him—and he sensed that Sirius still loved her, however he tried to hide it. There wasn't very much that could be hidden from a telepath, after all.

Sirius was even there, waiting for her as she said goodbye to the Vulcan before he beamed back up to the ship. "Take care of yourself, Spock. Keep in touch."

"You too, Christine," he murmured back as they embraced. "And if you ever need us, just say the word and we will be happy to assist you in any way possible." After a final fierce embrace, the couple separated and Spock flipped open his communicator to speak into it. "Live long and prosper, Christine. Energise, Mr. Scott."

"Peace and long life, Spock." With that, the transporter was energised, and moments later he was gone.

As she and Sirius left the room, he gave her a long, level look … a look which said volumes. She finally said, "Don't look at me like that, Sirius. Yes, I have feelings for Spock. I have for a long time and believe I always will, but I have even deeper feelings for you."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" He could scarcely believe his ears. "He has so much to offer you. Whereas, I, on the other hand-"

'You were unjustly accused, even framed, for something you didn't commit, and I intend to do all I can to see that you're exonerated," Christine declared. "It's the least I can do after the way I've doubted you."

"You've made me the happiest, luckiest wizard on Earth, Chris, and I promise to do everything I can to make you as happy as you deserve," Sirius declared, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it.

"No, I'm the lucky one," Christine responded. "How many men would forgive such terrible treatment as I put you through? And can you imagine how Harry's going to react when he hears?"

"I think I can guess," Sirius returned with a smile, releasing her hand and pulling her close with one arm. "But we can't make any concrete plans until and if we can get Old Moldy-Shorts and his cohorts out of the way once and for all."

Christine smiled at the joking reference, then her smile faded as she said solemnly, "I really wish you hadn't decided to join the Battle. After all, we just got you back. We don't want to lose you again—this time for good."

"I have to. I can't just sit by and watch you and Harry and Remus—among others—fight without trying to help. Don't worry, love. We'll make it just fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we're on the side of Right, that's why."

"That doesn't make us invulnerable to harm, unfortunately," Christine pointed out. She laughed in spite of herself, prompting Sirius to ask her what was so funny. "And can you imagine the look that's going to be on Bellatrix's face when she finds out you're alive after all? It's going to be priceless!"

At the mention of his Death Eater cousin's name, Sirius made a mental note to pay her back, big-time, for trying to kill him at the first opportunity. He owed her one, and then some! This time he would return the favour, and enjoy doing it—and maybe even take down a few others while he was at it. Meanwhile, though, he would simply enjoy what time there was left for him and Christine to be together between now and the beginning of the Battle.

When they rejoined Harry and company, they told them what they planned to do, infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and see if they could retrieve another of the Horcruxes, reportedly taken as a bribe by Harry's fifth-year nemesis Dolores Umbridge. Sirius intensely disliked the idea of his godson risking his life, but he also knew that Harry was virtually immovable once he had made up his mind. It was fortunate that the reconnaissance trips they had been making and their interrogation of Mundungus Fletcher had netted the whereabouts of Slytherin's locket, the next Horcrux. Of course, it didn't make what they were planning to do any less dangerous and Sirius wished with all his being that he could accompany them, if only to watch their backs. In the absence of that, however, he intended to advise them as best he could.

They had gone back to Grimmauld Place to make plans, and it was there that Remus found them, informing them that his son had been born … and to offer his services to the Trio. Harry questioned his leaving his wife and child, knowing how much Tonks would want to be in the thick of things, being an Auror and all. But what really set Harry off was when Remus said that he believed James would want him to stick with him. "I would think he would question why you weren't staying with your wife and child, personally," he shot back. "Parents shouldn't leave their kids unless they absolutely have to." The argument had escalated from there into a screaming match which ended up with a furious Remus shooting Harry across the room with his wand. His friends and Sirius were stunned and furious themselves, but no more than Harry was.

"He deserved it. He was acting like a coward."

Even at that, Sirius intended to have his say. "Perhaps, but that was not for you to judge, Harry. I know Remus better than you do; I'm sure that what he did was the best thing for Tonks and little Teddy, to keep them out of harm's way."

"With all due respect, Padfoot, I don't think you really listened to him. He all but said he regretted ever marrying her and having the child and basically intends to desert them!"

"There is nothing wrong with my hearing, Harry," Sirius returned coldly. "And didn't you try to do the same thing with Ginny in the guise of trying to protect her?" That stopped the young man in his tracks, rendering him at least momentarily speechless. "And from what you've said, Dumbledore did basically the same thing, distancing himself from you in order to protect you during your fifth year! Don't try to deny it. And don't tell me that you weren't subconsciously trying to keep Moony from horning in on what you considered your personal vendetta. I think you were frankly afraid that he would accomplish your objective before you did and take all the credit away from you, the bloody 'Chosen One.' That's likely to be the main reason why you didn't want him with you; it wasn't simply a magnanimous gesture on your part, designed to get him to stay with Tonks and little Teddy. You simply didn't want him cramping your style or telling you what to do … but that's often the problem with ones your age. You think you bloody well know all the answers, and the opinions of your elders and betters be damned, even as you claim to respect and value them!"

Harry's eyes blazed with green fire as they met the equally blazing eyes of his godfather, but he knew everything Sirius said was true even as they stood facing each other, holding their wands on each other. "Okay, maybe I was out of line, but it'll be worth it if it makes him go back to them." Harry's gaze hardened as he dared Sirius to contradict him.

"That still didn't give you the right to stand in judgment on him," Sirius retorted. "After all, you have no idea of the difficulties of living life as a werewolf. Tell me, young Mr. Know-It-All, what would you have done in his place in order to protect your wife and child? Would you—could you—have done any differently?" After a time, Harry's anger cooled and he lowered his wand; it was several long moments later before Sirius lowered his. "That's more like it. Now let's get back to planning the infiltration of the Ministry. Here's what I suggest you do …"

Some weeks later, when Harry recalled the episode at the Ministry, he could scarcely believe it had really happened—and what's more, if it hadn't been for Sirius and Hermione coming up with the idea of using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate various Ministry personnel, they could never have pulled it off. Neither did it help matters that Umbridge had commandeered Hermione in her disguise as Mafalda Hopkirk and Harry had had to investigate Umbridge's office on his own, looking for the Slytherin locket Horcrux she had accepted as a bribe from Mundungus Fletcher upon his stealing it from Grimmauld Place. If he'd had any idea that the man he was to impersonate was over six feet tall and had had humongous feet, almost as big as Ron's … Speaking of Ron, he had gotten himself off into a whole other section of the Ministry trying to rescue his doppelganger's wife, who was due to be "interrogated" –or more accurately, terrorised-by Umbridge and her cohorts.

From what Harry had seen when in the room with the disguised Hermione, the old hag was still up to her old tricks—framing innocent people by either lying about them, using the Imperius, Cruciatus or Veritaserum on them, if not threatening them with the Dementor's Kiss. Of course, it hadn't helped to have had dementors around to drain what little soul the prisoners still had after "interrogation" by the narrow-minded, hypocritical, and sadistic head of the so-called "Muggle-Born Registration Commission." Might as well have called it "Muggle-Born Torture Commission", as far as he was concerned. He could just imagine what the Marauders might have done in the same situation … probably something very similar to what he and his friends had done, gotten as many Muggle-borns out of the building as he could and warned them to flee – to other countries, if necessary—for their own safety.

Just the same, he was glad he had his Invisibility Cloak; otherwise he and his friends would never been able to lay low and go on reconnaissance runs during the last several weeks (another idea Hermione and Sirius had come up with), holing up in Grimmauld Place. Just wait until he told Sirius about the file on Arthur Weasley, especially the bit about his being watched for the possibility that "Undesirable Number One" (himself), supposedly wanted for questioning regarding Dumbledore's death, might show up at the Burrow. He was certain that Arthur didn't like Albert Runcorn, the one he had impersonated, so it was unlikely that he had believed the warning about his being watched when the disguised Harry had mentioned it to him. Probably better for him to hear it from someone he knew and trusted, like Sirius.

Meanwhile, it wouldn't have surprised him one bit if the idiocy that Muggles could supposedly steal or force magic from wizards had come from the so-called mind of Dolores Umbridge, if not the Imperiused Thicknesse or Death Eaters now in various positions of power in the Ministry. Nor did the garbage in Rita Skeeter's sensationalist book on Dumbledore help ease his mind any regarding how the one-time Hogwarts Headmaster had truly felt toward him. But at the moment Harry had more important things to concentrate on, such as the next best move to make to find the remaining Horcruxes, reportedly items from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, as well as the large snake Nagini, Voldemort's familiar. He hadn't seen Christine for a while, but was sure that she and Sirius were making up for lost time with the proverbial vengeance.

Hopefully his godfather could update him on her—and had forgiven him for his tirade against Remus. He would have to feel his way carefully, then once he had at least a fairly good idea, he would ask him about Christine … and if that went all right, he would suggest that Sirius mention to her that he, Harry, wanted to see and speak with her again. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Ginny for a while and school was going to start soon, so he had better see her while he still could without the Quest to worry about. Maybe owl her or something … if not have Sirius Floo the Burrow, because he had already decided not to return to school for his seventh year, considering the quest to find and destroy the Horcruxes and Voldemort far more important. Hermione had brought a lot of books, so if they needed to look something up to help them either find another Horcrux or learn a new defensive spell or two, they had the necessary reference books close at hand. Harry had also managed to retrieve Mad-Eye's magical eye from Umbridge's door and bury it.

Still hardly seemed possible that Mad-Eye was gone; he had always seemed so tough, so much larger than life, almost a legend—if not virtually invincible. Harry was sure that over the course of his life, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody had done things to catch Dark wizards and witches and cast spells that none of them had ever dreamed of. He was just the kind of Auror that Harry hoped to be one day, although he also hoped that he could manage to keep his eyes, hands and arms, if not at least one of his legs. Still, it would be almost worth losing a leg to be able to say that he had vanquished someone like Lucius Malfoy or Bellatrix Lestrange, someone of that ilk—if not killed or Petrified them, Imperiused or Crucio'd them, or best of all, put them in Azkaban for life.

Something else still nagged at him, though … who in Merlin's name had the blond young man been whom he had seen in Voldemort's thoughts, the one who had stolen the Elder Wand over a century ago? Could it have been a young Elphias Doge, or Merlin forbid, even a young Dumbledore or Grindelwald? Why hadn't he ever thought to ask Dumbledore more about his youth, just how he had come to be the kind of wizard he was? He couldn't fully flame the old wizard for not "spilling his guts" if he, Harry, didn't think to ask him. Of course, Harry had always been in such awe of Dumbledore that it was almost a sacrilege to think of him as every bit as human as the rest of Wizardkind and thus fallible, subject to error, although he would have had to have been for Snape to have been able to kill him as he had. Come to think of it, Dumbledore had never claimed to be perfect, so if Harry had idolised him and put him on a pedestal, whose fault was it when he himself had ended up hurt and disillusioned when Dumbledore had eventually toppled off said pedestal?

At this thought, anger and grief burned inside Harry all over again. What was worse, he had been unable to do a thing to stop it—beginning with Dumbledore's having Body-Bound him, then Snape's repeatedly countering every spell he came up with when he had tried to pursue and capture him. Of course, Dumbledore may even have planned that. How could Harry have known one way or the other what the man's thoughts had been at that point in time? But even if it was true, how could he have planned his own murder so cold-bloodedly, simply to save Draco? Why the bloody hell did he have to have been so damnably forgiving, anyway? It had just gotten him killed and therefore of no use to anyone, especially Harry himself …and at the worst possible time—just when Harry had needed his advice and wisdom the most.

Harry didn't want to think that it had merely been done so that the death, coming when it did, could actually do some good in the overall War effort, although even Harry couldn't dismiss that possibility—just as he couldn't conceive of any earthly way that could ever have come about … certainly not from where he was standing, anyway. Oh well, this chaotic thought pattern wasn't getting him anywhere. The best thing for him to do now was hunt up Sirius and tell him what had happened at the Ministry, then sit down with him and the rest of the Order (not to mention Ron and Hermione) and plan their next move.


End file.
